Boosters: 'We're all in it together' - a podcast by BBC Radio 4

The Omicron variant is now estimated by government models to be at 200,000 infections per day and confirmed Covid cases are currently at around 54,000. People have had difficulty ordering the home testing kits and with Christmas ten days away, the public are all having to make sense of what's happening.

Today's Mishal Husain speaks to Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University, he sits on the UK's vaccine taskforce and is the UK Government Adviser on Life Sciences.

As the new variant is doubling every couple of days, the government says it needs to bring in Plan B - COVID passes, mandatory mask wearing and compulsory vaccines for NHS staff. MPs will be voting on this on Tuesday and the BBC estimates as many as seventy Conservatives could vote against the government. The main weapon against Omicron is vaccination and the Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said that the UK will "throw everything" at ramping up the booster programme. The booking website for England crashed and there have been long queues at vaccination centres.

Our health correspondent Dominic Hughes has been to one vaccination clinic in Stockport in Greater Manchester to find out more about the practicalities.

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