COVID-19 pandemic might end in Europe after Omicron's takeover: WHO
What's the story
The COVID-19 pandemic has entered a new phase in Europe, with the Omicron variant potentially putting an end to it, said Hans Kluge, the regional director at the World Health Organization (WHO). "It's plausible that the region is moving towards a kind of pandemic endgame," he told AFP. Kluge said once the current surge subsides, there will be a global immunity for several weeks.
Context
Why does it matter?
Omicron, a heavily modified and highly contagious coronavirus strain, is at the forefront of the global outbreak. Since its discovery in November 2021 in South Africa, the new variant has spread to over 100 countries in less than three months. As of January 24, 2022, more than 352 million cases of COVID-19 and 5.6 million deaths have been reported globally.
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'Omicron might infect 60% of Europeans by March'
According to Kluge, Omicron might infect 60% of Europeans by March. "We anticipate that there will be a period of quiet before COVID-19 may come back towards the end of the year, but not necessarily the pandemic coming back," he said.
Optimism
What are other health experts claiming?
On Sunday, Anthony Fauci, the US government's Chief Medical Advisor, expressed similar hope. "Things are looking good," he said on an ABC News chat show, with COVID-19 cases dropping "rather sharply" in parts of the United States. Last week, the WHO regional office for Africa reported that COVID cases had dropped in the region, and deaths were on the decline since the fourth-wave peaked.
Warning
Too early to consider COVID-19 endemic: Kluge
COVID-19 endemic, according to Kluge, is still too early to call. "There is a lot of talk about endemic but endemic means that it is possible to predict what's going to happen," he said. "This virus has surprised (us) more than once so we have to be very careful," he said. He cautioned that because Omicron has spread so widely, new strains could emerge.
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Possible to adapt existing vaccines to any new variants: Expert
Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Markets, stated on Sunday that existing vaccinations will be adaptable to any new versions that may develop. "We will be able to better resist, including to new variants", he said to LCI. He further added, "we will be ready to adapt the vaccines, especially the mRNA ones, if necessary to adapt them to more virulent variants."
Information
Omicron now dominant variant in the European Union
According to European Union health agency ECDC, Omicron is now the dominant variant in the EU and the European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein). Kluge said, "because of the very fast spread of the variant across Europe, emphasis ought to be on minimizing disruption of hospitals, schools and the economy." He believes that massive efforts to protect the vulnerable will be more beneficial.
Details
COVID-19 cases around the world
As of Monday, there are over 66 million active cases of COVID-19 globally, out of which 95,963 are in critical condition. The daily cases took a dip from 3,299,953 on January 12 to 2,227,085 on January 23. The daily deaths declined from 9467 on January 19 to 4839 on January 23. The US reported the highest number of cases, followed by India.