Improving evidence that Omicron does tend to cause milder illness (on average) than earlier variants.
On the other hand, some studies now find no evidence for this, depending on how it is measured.
British study (but a more recent study found omicron
slightly milder). And in Denmark they see fewer hospitalisations with omicron, but: "
It is primarily young and vaccinated people who are infected with Omicron, and when we adjust for this, we see no evidence that Omicron should result in milder disease".
Norway now has about 5000 confirmed cases of omicron (due to limited testing for the variant, the real number is probably at least twice), and one hospital admission due to omicron so far, so limited data.
Given that we can't yet confirm for sure that omicron gives a milder disease, but we do know that it is good at evading the vaccines and to some degree also past infections, it's safe to assume that the risk of overloading hospitals has increased significantly.
I got an invitation yesterday to book a booster dose, but I could only pick slots between 3 and 12 January. I have a doctor appointment on the 5th which I might not be fit for if the booster is like the second dose, and I'm abroad between the 6th and 10th, so I called to hear if I could get it earlier, reasoning that Christmas would not be popular for many, but actually better for me, since the booster could actually be useful before doing air travel, but no luck even though they offer drop-in for the age group above mine... They prefer that I get it on the 12th coming straight from the European epicentre (Czechia). Oh well, I can't rush, they say, so I wont rush.