The director-general of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on 20 December that the Omicron variant is spreading faster than the Delta variant and is infecting those who are already vaccinated or have recovered from the coronavirus.
Tedros said in a news briefing for journalists at their new headquarters building:
“There is now consistent evidence that Omicron is spreading significantly faster than the Delta variant.
And it is more likely people vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19 could be infected or re-infected.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Soumya Swaminathan, the chief scientist of WHO, said that the Omicron variant is successfully evading some immune responses.
WHO officials said that the variant appears to be better at evading antibodies that are generated by some vaccines, but there are other forms of immunity that may prevent infection and disease.