'Certain features of omicron, including its global spread and large number of mutations, suggest it could have a major impact on the course of the pandemic,' Tedros said.
WHO said the highly mutated omicron variant of Covid-19 could change the course of the pandemic.
An employee at a testing station in the city centre takes a swab from a woman. In Lower Saxony, stricter Corona rules apply in many areas.The World Health Organization on Wednesday said the highly mutated omicron variant of Covid-19 could change the course of the pandemic. Genetic changes to the virus affect its virulence and indicate it could be considerably more infectious than previous strains, according to WHO.Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead on Covid-19, said preliminary evidence from South Africa may suggest that omicron is milder than the delta strain but it is "too early to conclude on that." Patients in the country with a more mild course of disease may not have gone through the full course of the infection yet, she added.
The WHO's remarks comes as the omicron variant, first identified in southern Africa, has been found in 57 countries across the word. WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said at the briefing it is still premature to conclude this "reduction neutralizing activity would result in a significant reduction" in vaccine efficacy.