Zurich: Omicron Coronavirus variant has been reported in 89 countries and the number of doubles in 1.5 to 3 days in the region with community transmission, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday.
Omicron spreads rapidly in countries with high population ownership levels, but it is not clear whether this is caused by the ability of the virus to avoid immunity, increasing transmission or a combination of both, which says in the update.
The agency pointed to the omicron variant which was concerned on November 26, as soon as it was first detected, and many were still unknown, including the severity of the disease caused.
“There is still limited data at the omicron clinical severity,” WHO said.
“More data is needed to understand the severity profile and how the severity is influenced by the existing vaccination and immunity.” It was added, “There are still limited available data, and there is no evidence of peer-reviewed, on the efficacy of vaccines or effectiveness until now for Omicron”.