UK researchers have analysed the likely impact that a Covid booster shot will have on Omicron and say it could provide around 85% protection against severe illness. The protection is a bit less than vaccines gave against earlier versions of Covid, reports BBC. But it means the top-up dose should still keep many people out of hospital. It comes as a record 861,306 number of booster jabs and third doses were given in the UK on Thursday. The modelling, from the team at Imperial College London, is based on limited information on Omicron. The researchers say there is a high degree of uncertainty until more real-world information is gathered about this new variant that is spreading quickly. Experts are still trying to figure out how mild or severe Omicron will turn out to be. Vaccines help teach the body how to fight Covid. But the current ones in use were not designed to combat the heavily-mutated Omicron variant, meaning they are not a perfect match. To get round that, people in the UK are being advised to have a booster dose to build up higher antibody levels to fight the virus. Antibodies can stick onto the virus to stop it entering cells and replicating. Studies have suggested a 20 to 40-fold reduction in the ability of these antibodies to take out the virus in double-vaccinated people. READ: US faces a double coronavirus surge as omicron advances The preliminary work from Imperial assumes there will be a drop in vaccine efficacy against Omicron. Even with a booster, protection against severe disease from Omicron may be around 80 to 85.9%, compared to around 97% for Delta - the other variant that is currently dominant in the UK. However, there are other parts of the immune system, such as T cells, that can fight Covid too. The modelling could not assess the impact of these. One of the Imperial researchers Prof Azra Ghani said: "One remaining uncertainty is how severe the disease caused by the Omicron variant is compared to disease caused by previous variants. "Whilst it may take several weeks to fully understand this, governments will need to put in place plans now to mitigate any potential impact. "Our results demonstrate the importance of delivering booster doses as part of the wider public health response." Dr Clive Dix, former chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, said: "There is a huge amount of uncertainty in these modelled estimates and we can only be confident about the impact of boosters against Omicron when we have another month of real-world data on hospitalisation, ICU [intensive care] numbers and deaths. "It remains the case that we still need to get vaccines current and future to the whole world." Cases of Omicron are rising - and there's more to come. The UK has recorded 3,201 new cases of the Omicron variant, up from yesterday's figure of 1,691. It takes the total number of confirmed Omicron cases in the UK to 14,909 - although the true figure is believed to be much higher because not all labs can detect the variant and not everyone will come forward for testing. READ: Pfizer confirms COVID pill’s results, potency versus omicron So how long will it go on for? The modellers aren't sure yet. They're talking about peaks early in the new year - if you keep on doubling and doubling and doubling cases, there'll eventually be more people getting infected than there are people in the UK - so there is a limit on this. The real question - which still hasn't been answered - then becomes: how ill does it make people and how much pressure is it going to put on the healthcare system?

Bangladesh has sought effective measures by the European Union for creating a conducive environment in Myanmar for sustainable repatriation of the Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh.  Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen raised the issue and explained that Bangladesh is facing enormous social, economic and environmental cost by sheltering over 1.1 million Rohingyas. Dr Momen held a bilateral meeting with Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Vice-President of the European Commission (HRVP) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York recently.  HRVP Borell thanked Bangladesh for the humanitarian gesture to the Rohingyas, and assured that EU would work with Bangladesh and the international community to ensure sustainable repatriation of the Rohingyas. The issue of climate change was discussed in the bilateral meeting.  Foreign Minister Momen briefed the HRVP about the role of Bangladesh as the President of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday.  He raised the issue of the 100 billion dollars annual climate fund pledged by the developed countries, and requested EU to fulfill the commitment. Dr Momen stressed on the importance of allocation of 50 per cent of the climate financing for adaptation measures.  He explained the importance of loss and damage incurred because of river erosion, intrusion of salinity, sea level rise, floods and draughts.  The Foreign Minister emphasised sharing of responsibility for the climate migrants – the people uprooted from their homes and traditional jobs because of impacts of climate change.  Dr Momen also explained the need of creating high and wide embankments in the coastal belt, and in the areas prone to river erosion. He invited public funding and private sector investment from EU in developing the embankments, with roads, solar panels and windmills on those.  Josep Borell remarked that significant efforts would be needed to contain the temperature rise to the maximum limit of 1.5 degree Celsius.  He was of the view that there would be social and economic shocks in the effort of addressing the challenges of climate change.  The Foreign Minister agreed with the HRVP, and sought technology transfer for coping with the mitigation targets.      Dr Momen raised the issue of trade with the EU and thanked the HRVP for providing duty-free market access to Bangladeshi products under the EBA scheme of EU.  He also thanked Borell for continued market access to Bangladesh till 2029, and requested for providing GSP+ facilities once the EBA facilities to Bangladesh will be over in 2029.  HRVP assured the Foreign Minister that he would convey the request with positive recommendation to the concerned authorities of EU.  

Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader on Monday urged the government to take effective steps to check waterway accidents in the country. “The tragic accident like Shibchar’s one can’t be accepted. Effective measures must be taken to prevent the waterway accidents,” he said in a condolence message issued over the loss of lives in a speedboat capsize in the Padma River. He also called upon the government to identify those responsible for the accident through an investigation, and take proper legal action against them. Also read: Procuring vaccine from one source was a wrong move: GM Quader GM Quader, also the deputy opposition leader in parliament, demanded justified compensations for the families of the victims. He expressed deep sorrow over the loss of huge lives in the incident. The Jatiya Party chief also prayed for the salvation of the departed souls and conveyed his sympathy to the bereaved family members. Earlier in the morning, at least 26 people died when a speedboat sank in the river in Shibchar upazila of Madaripur district. The Banglabazar-bound speedboat from Shimulia Ferry Ghat capsized in the river after a collision with a sand-laden bulkhead. Also read: Eid-Ul-Fitr: JaPa leader GM Quader greets PM Twenty-six bodies were retrieved from the river with the help of divers from local Fire Service and Civil Defence, police and Coast Guard members. Meanwhile, the local administration formed a six-member committee to investigate the speedboat capsize incident.