Omicron variant “dangerous, especially for unvaccinated”

The Omicron variant of covid “causes less severe disease than Delta, but remains a dangerous virus particularly for those who are not vaccinated.” This was recalled by WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at a press conference in Geneva. For Ghebreyesus, “learning to live with this virus does not mean that we can, or must, accept nearly 50,000 deaths a week,” he added to the press. WHO Europe estimates that “over 50% of the population of the European Region will be infected” by the new variant “in the next 6-8 weeks,” said WHO Regional Director for Europe, Hans Kluge yesterday. The European region, continued Kluge, “recorded over 7 million new Covid cases reported in the first week of 2022, more than doubling in a two-week period”. “As of January 10, 26 countries reported that over 1% of their population has fallen ill every week,” he added.