The World Health Organisation has observed that the Omicron variant of the virus SARS-CoV-2 is spreading faster than all of its predecessors and that vaccination will not be enough to defeat it, British news portal The Guardian reports.
First infections with omicron were noticed in South Africa in November, but the UK has registered the first death from it in December.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Tuesday, December 14: «The reality is that Omicron is probably in most countries even if it hasn’t been detected yet. Omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant.»
Read also: Norway to impose new restrictions, increase booster vaccination to fight Omicron
The organisation called on countries to act swiftly to rein in transmission and protect their health systems and warned against complacency. Meanwhile, WHO expert Bruce Aylward strenuously warned against «jumping to a conclusion that this is a mild disease». «We could be setting ourselves up for a very dangerous situation,» he added, The Guardian reports.
WHO: Warns of Omicron’s speed of spreading fast
