Its a numbers game.
Before covid ever came along the government had contingency plans for a mass flu outbreak.
This isnt because they expect it to be deadly, its because of the numbers likely to be off work at the same time.
A shortage of key workers because they are off sick could risk critical infrastructure and services. It only takes an illness to be mild but to affect a huge percentage of the population at the same time to cause that problem.
We talk about the NHS having capacity issues - part of that driven by staff shortages, but it also everything from teachers, nuclear workers, delivery drivers, food production lines etc.
What we are hearing about omicron is multiple cases of how 1 person has infected 30, 40, 50 or even more people in one place at the same time. Imagine that happens at your local supermarket forcing it close. And thats replicated at A&E or the water treatment plant or the amazon warehouse multiple times across the country.
That alone is scary enough.
And we don't know that omicron is milder yet. What if its not.
We know that 3 jabs is perhaps the best hope to stop a critical infrastructure failure in a few weeks. Even a lockdown might not work well against omicron because its such a transmitable variant, precisely because key workers will still be required to work.
I think the government essentially telling everyone to drop everything and focus on getting a booster is a telling indicator of just how critical this is.
I am still trying to get my head around how they intend to get 1.1 million vaccinated every day over the Christmas period. Are they really going to try and run clinics Christmas day because i am getting the impression thats exactly what they are thinking.
So yeah. Its a numbers game.