(Strasbourg) The new Omicron variant could become dominant among COVID-19 infections in Europe by mid-January, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned on Wednesday, adding that there was now enough vaccines for all Europeans.
Given the current rapid progression of cases, “science tells us that we should expect Omicron to already be the new dominant variant in Europe by mid-January,” said Mme von der Leyen at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday that the Omicron variant is spreading “at a rate we’ve never seen with any other variant,” calling for all anti-COVID-19 tools to be used to prevent European health systems are not quickly overwhelmed as the end of the year holidays approach.
“But over the past year we’ve worked hard and achieved a lot. And that is why Europe is now in a better position to fight the virus ”, continued the President of the Commission on the eve of a summit of European leaders in Brussels.
“First of all, we have enough doses of vaccine for every European now,” stressed Ursula von der Leyen, recalling that 66.6% of the EU population had received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and that for now, the third dose “is the best protection against the new variant”.
“The most important thing now is to increase the number of people vaccinated in Europe as quickly as possible”, because “the price that we will pay if people are not vaccinated will continue to increase” with in particular Christmas celebrations again darkened by the epidemic, schools and activities that are closing, insisted the president of the European executive.