The World Health Organization says that the dreaded Omicron coronavirus variant has been detected in 63 countries.
The WHO also believes that the new variant could outpace the Delta variant as the most dominant strain of the virus.
“As of December 9, 2021, cases of human infections with this variant have been identified in 63 countries across all six WHO regions,” the WHO said in a briefing.
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“However, given the current available data, it is likely that Omicron will outpace the Delta variant where community transmission occurs,” the WHO added in a statement.
The discovery of the Omicron variant in South Africa prompted countries to impose restrictions to curb its spread.
“Early evidence suggests Omicron causes a reduction in vaccine efficacy against infection and transmission,” the WHO said in a briefing on Sunday.
“Given the current available data, it is likely that Omicron will outpace the Delta variant where community transmission occurs,” it added.
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Data also show that Omicron causes mild symptoms but more data will be needed to establish the variant’s severity.
Last week Pfizer/BioNTech said three doses of their jabs were still effective against Omicron.
Moderna is also developing a separate booster shot to address the new variant. (TDT)
