Omicron Covid variant poses very high global risk, says WHO

The threat posed by the “highly mutated” Omicron variant shows what a “perilous and precarious” situation the world is in, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said, as he warned that the pandemic would not end until every country has access to vaccines.

In his first substantial comments since the emergence of the new variant last week, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it illustrated how “hard-won gains could vanish in an instant”.

Addressing a special session of the World Health Assembly, he said the emergence of Omicron served as a reminder that “Covid-19 is not done with us”.

Earlier on Monday the WHO said the Omicron variant was likely to spread internationally, posing a very high global risk of infection surges that could have severe consequences in some areas.

The UN agency urged its 194 member states to accelerate vaccination of high-priority groups and, in anticipation of increased case numbers, to “ensure mitigation plans are in place” to maintain essential health services.

Tedros said the pandemic would not be over until what he called the “vaccine crisis” had ended, highlighting that low-income countries had received just 0.6% of the world’s Covid vaccines. G20 countries had received 80%, he said, adding that “no country can vaccinate its way out of the pandemic alone”.

“Instead of meeting in the aftermath of the pandemic, we are meeting as a fresh wave of cases and deaths crashes into Europe, with untold and uncounted deaths around the world,” he said. “And although other regions are seeing declining or stable trends, if there’s one thing we have learned, it’s that no region, no country, no community and no individual is safe until we are all safe. The emergence of the highly mutated Omicron variant underlines just how perilous and precarious our situation is.”

The WHO said earlier: “Omicron has an unprecedented number of spike mutations, some of which are concerning for their potential impact on the trajectory of the pandemic. The overall global risk related to the new variant … is assessed as very high.”

To date, no deaths linked to Omicron have been reported, though the WHO said further research was needed to assess Omicron’s potential to escape protection against immunity induced by vaccines and previous infections.

“Increasing cases, regardless of a change in severity, may pose overwhelming demands on healthcare systems and may lead to increased morbidity and mortality. The impact on vulnerable populations would be substantial, particularly in countries with low vaccination coverage,” it said.

The variant was first reported to the WHO on 24 November from South Africa, where infections have risen steeply. It has since spread around the world, with new cases found in the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia, even as more countries imposed travel restrictions to try to seal themselves off.

Japan said on Monday it would close its borders to foreigners, joining Israel in taking the toughest measures.

“The presence of multiple mutations of the spike protein in the receptor-binding domain suggests that Omicron may have a high likelihood of immune escape from antibody-mediated protection,” the WHO said. “However, immune escape potential from cell-mediated immunity is more difficult to predict. Overall, there are considerable uncertainties in the magnitude of immune escape potential of Omicron.”