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While the infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19 appears to produce a less severe disease than the globally dominant Delta strain, it should not be categorised as "mild", World Health Organization officials have said.
Key points:
- COVID-19 has killed more than 5.8 million people globally
- 109 countries will likely miss the WHO's target for 70 per cent of the world's population to be fully vaccinated by July
- Among severe patients worldwide, 90 per cent were unvaccinated
"Just like previous variants, Omicron is hospitalising people and it's killing people," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a Thursday media briefing from WHO headquarters in Geneva.
"In fact, the tsunami of cases is so huge and quick that it is overwhelming health systems around the world."
COVID-19 has killed more than 5.8 million people globally.
Dr Tedros said a record 9.5 million cases of the coronavirus were tallied around the world over the last week, "the highest number" reported so far in the pandemic.
Dr Tedros said the WHO was certain that was an underestimate because of a backlog in testing around the year-end holidays.
He repeated his call for greater equity globally in the distribution of and access to vaccines.
Based on the current rate of vaccine rollout, 109 countries will miss the WHO's target for 70 per cent of the world's population to be fully vaccinated by July, Dr Tedros added.
WHO adviser Bruce Aylward said 36 nations had not even reached 10 per cent vaccination cover. Among severe patients worldwide, 90 per cent were unvaccinated, he added.
The organisation's emergencies chief, Dr Michael Ryan, said speculation omicron might be the last variant of the outbreak was "wishful thinking" and cautioned there was still "a lot of energy in this virus".
'Variant of concern'
Janet Diaz, WHO lead on clinical management, said early studies showed there was a reduced risk of hospitalisation from the Omicron variant first identified in southern Africa and Hong Kong in November compared with Delta.
For several reasons — including rising vaccination rates in some places, and signs that omicron affects the nose and throat more than the lungs — omicron has not appeared as deadly as the delta variant that preceded it.
There appears also to be a reduced risk of severity in both younger and older people, Ms Diaz told media the Geneva briefing.
She did not give further details about the studies or the ages of the cases analysed, but the impact on the elderly is one of the big unanswered questions about the new variant as most of the cases studied so far have been in younger people.
Another variant — labelled as IHU and first registered in September 2021 — is among those being monitored by the WHO but is not circulating widely, said the WHO's technical lead on COVID-19, Maria van Kerkhove.
There are two categories the WHO uses to track variants: "variant of concern", which includes Delta and Omicron, and "variant of interest".
WHO officials called on the public to step up measures to fight the pandemic like getting vaccinated, ventilating rooms, maintaining proper physical distancing and wearing masks — but properly.
"I'm struck by how people actually are wearing masks," Ms Van Kerkhove said.
"Wearing a mask below your chin is useless. And it gives you a false sense of security that you have something on that is protecting you. It will not … Basically, we are asking everyone to play a part in this."
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