THE WORLD HEALTH Organization has warned Omicron is spreading at an unprecedented rate and urged countries to act as drugmaker Pfizer said its coronavirus pill was effective against the variant.

Omicron, first detected by South Africa and reported to the WHO on 24 November, has a large number of mutations, setting alarm bells ringing since its discovery.

Early data suggests it can be resistant to vaccines and is more transmissible than the Delta variant, which was first identified in India and accounts for the bulk of the world’s coronavirus cases.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters the strain had been reported in 77 countries and had “probably” spread to most nations undetected “at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant”.

‘Dangerous situation’

Although Britain yesterday confirmed what is thought to be the world’s first Omicron death, there is no proof yet that Omicron causes more severe illness.

The WHO today provided room for cautious optimism saying Africa had recorded a massive rise in cases over the past week but a lower number of deaths compared with previous waves.

But it urged countries to act swiftly to rein in transmission and protect their health systems and warned against complacency.

WHO expert Bruce Aylward strenuously warned against “jumping to a conclusion that this is a mild disease”.

“We could be setting ourselves up for a very dangerous situation,” he added.

The warning came as Pfizer today said clinical trials of its Covid pill reduced hospital admissions and deaths among at-risk people by almost 90%.

The American drug maker said its new treatment, Paxlovid, held up against Omicron in lab-testing.

Chief executive Albert Bourla called the news a “game changer” and said he expected approval from the US medicines regulator as early as this month.

A real-world study from South Africa has showed two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 70% effective in stopping severe illness from Omicron.

Researchers called the results encouraging, though it represented a drop compared to earlier strains, underlining the unpredictability of Covid-19 since it emerged in China in 2019.

And the WHO added that low vaccination rates in regions including Africa – where Omicron was first detected – would provide breeding grounds for new variants.

It estimated it will take Africa until May 2022 to have 40% vaccination coverage and until August 2024 to reach 70% as countries with plentiful vaccine supplies raced to administer third doses to beat Omicron.

Dutch schools to close

Europe is the world’s coronavirus hotspot, recording 62% of the world’s total Covid cases in the past seven days, while the five countries with the world’s highest infection rates are all European.

The Netherlands followed other European nations in reintroducing restrictions today as Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced primary schools will shut next week and a night-time lockdown will be extended amid Omicron fears.

Schools will close from 20 December instead of on 25 December due to concerns that children, among whom Covid-19 rates are the highest, could infect older relatives.

“This is obviously not the joyful message we had hoped for as Christmas approaches. But it’s not a surprise,” Rutte said.

France today registered 63,405 new coronavirus cases – its highest daily total since April – even with more than 77% of its population having had at least one vaccine jab.

In neighbouring Britain, the ruling Conservative government today urged its own MPs not to rebel against new coronavirus restrictions, insisting the country was in a race to prevent the Omicron variant spiralling out of control.

Boris Johnson’s administration plans to introduce new rules on mask-wearing, daily testing to avoid isolation and vaccine passes for certain settings in England.

But he has provoked opposition from his own party, who believe the measures are excessive and undermine basic freedoms.

Scientists have predicted the true number already infected with Omicron in Britain could be as high as 200,000 a day, while the English Premier League reported a record caseload that threatened further disruption to fixtures.

According to an AFP tally from official sources as of 11am today, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused at least 5,311,914 deaths and 270,068,257 infections.

Many investors fear that the Omicron variant could throw the global economic recovery into jeopardy.

© – AFP, 2021