Oxford Study of early Omicron in UK shows it's no different than Delta, but they cautioned that data is limited. [1]
The point is: while we might get lucky with Omicron, we don't have definitive data on it, ergo, we have to rely on our past experience with Alpha/Beta/Delta to inform policy.
And FYI what is 'definitive' is that we are 100% sure that it is 'much more transmissible' by about 3x.
If Omicron is 'as bad as Delta' - and - we knew it was 3x more transmissible - and we were not sure of it's legality - and the government didn't take decisive action, the resulting death would imply dereliction of duty on a criminal scale.
There are 10x more people who are 'pro vaccine' than 'anti' and the 'protests' over needless death would be much worse.
I am hopeful that Omicron will be less lethal but esp. with Xmas and 3x tranmissability, we have not choice but to take action.
[1] https://www.research.ox.ac.uk/article/2021-12-14-omicron-and...