European Commission President warns Omicron likely to become dominant variant by 2022

The President of the European Commission cautioned on December 16, that the Omicron variant of COVID is likely to become the dominant variant as early as January 2022. Following a European Council meeting on Thursday, Ursula von der Leyen informed a press conference that European Commission vaccination and boosting is the best protection currently available. She has assured that the European Union has enough COVID-19 vaccine doses to ensure that everyone is vaccinated and receives a booster shot.

Ursula von der Leyen, speaking at a news conference, said, "even as we battle this time the Delta variant still, we know that the Omicron variant is really threatening us. It is spreading at a ferocious pace and potentially has the risk of escaping our vaccines, at least partially."

She went on to say that the EU's healthcare systems are currently overburdened, which is partly due to a large number of unvaccinated individuals. She stated that nearly a third of EU citizens have not yet gotten COVID-19 vaccinations, with nine member states having immunisation rates below 60%. Hence, the only answer to this new variant is to enhance vaccination, including children beyond the age of five, as well as boosting and preventative measures, according to Von Der Leyen.

Von Der Leyen claims EU is in better condition than last year

The President of the EU Commission expressed optimism while asserting that according to her, the EU is in a far better situation than last year. She further claimed that the European Union's Digital COVID Certificate has been a huge success and the European Union is now the world's greatest exporter and giver of vaccinations. According to von der Leyen, the Commission continues to encourage the Member States to order the necessary supplies for the months ahead.

Moreover, this week, Hungary started administering Pfizer-COVID-19 BioNTech's vaccine to youngsters aged 5 to 11, but demand was initially low. On the other hand, people across Australia are being asked to receive a COVID vaccination booster injection as soon as they are eligible, as the number of cases in New South Wales and Victoria continues to grow. Following the development of the Omicron variant and a reduction of the period between vaccination doses, health professionals have warned of concerns caused by increased demand for booster shots. Administration and pharmacists have expressed concerns about the booster rollout, ranging from vaccination shortages to staff shortages.

(With inputs from agencies)

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