Newspaper headlines: UK race for boosters as NHS put on crisis footing

The papers are dominated by what the i calls Britain's "race to get boosted". The pictures on many of the front pages demonstrate one of the problems the accelerated booster jab campaign immediately ran into - long queues outside vaccination centres.

Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph suggests more than 4.4 million visits to the NHS booking website were made in total.

The Times articulates the concerns of health leaders that the target they've been set - of offering every adult in England a booster by the end of the year - is unlikely to be met. The paper reports their concerns that the programme may not be finished until "well into the new year".

The Metro says the prime minister believes what it calls an "omi army" of volunteers could be the solution.

The Daily Mail leads on the same story - saying Boris Johnson has appealed for "tens of thousands of helpers" to "deliver Covid jabs around the clock".

"Join the Xmas jabs army" implores the front page of the Sun. It carries a quote about the volunteers from the Duchess of Cornwall: "You make us proud and give us hope for brighter days ahead", she says.

The Guardian focuses on the strain the "surging" number of omicron cases is already putting the health service under.

With government models suggesting there were 200,000 Omicron cases in a single day, it says the NHS was last night put on to a "crisis footing".

Hospitals in England were told to discharge as many patients as possible - the paper says - leading doctors to call for further restrictions to be imposed to "stem the rise in cases."

That would be no easy matter for Boris Johnson - who the Daily Express suggests is "facing his biggest revolt yet" from Tory backbenchers "furious" over the new Covid rules he's already announced.

The paper says he is "desperately trying to win them around" ahead of a House of Commons vote later today. But the Express says he's braced for a "wave" of ministerial aides "quitting in fury" over new Covid passport rules.

There's discontent in the business community too, the Financial Times reports. It quotes the boss of the JD Wetherspoon pub chain, Tim Martin, as saying "the country appears to be heading for a lockdown by stealth".

The prime minister is coming under pressure to consider a new package of government aid for badly affected sectors, including hospitality, retail and travel, the FT says.

Finally, for those wanting - once the pandemic allows - to get away from it all the Daily Mail describes what it calls "the ultimate challenge for train buffs".

After the opening of a railway in Laos, it says it's now possible to travel from Portugal to Singapore with just a few changes of train. You'll need a bit of time on your hands though - the 11,655 mile trip would take three weeks to complete.

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