The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday (December 14, 2021) warned that Omicron is spreading at a rate that the world has not seen with any previous COVID-19 variant.

During a media briefing on COVID-19, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that 77 countries have now reported cases of Omicron.

“The reality is that Omicron is probably in most countries, even if it hasn’t been detected yet. Even if Omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems,” he added.

Small decline in effectiveness of vaccines

Tedros also stated that evolving evidence suggests a ‘small decline’ in the effectiveness of vaccines against severe disease and death, and a decline in preventing mild disease or infection.

“The emergence of Omicron has prompted some countries to roll out booster programmes for their entire adult populations, even while we lack evidence for the effectiveness of boosters against this variant. WHO is concerned that such programmes will repeat the vaccine hoarding we saw this year, and exacerbate inequity,” he said.

End inequity, end pandemic

The WHO chief once again raised concern over vaccine inequity and said that there remains a ‘vast gap’ in rates of vaccination between countries.

He informed that 41 countries have still not been able to vaccinate 10% of their populations, and 98 countries have not reached 40%.

“We also see significant inequities between population groups in the same country. If we end inequity, we end the pandemic. If we allow inequity to continue, we allow the pandemic to continue,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added.