Brussels: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that Omicron was expected to be the dominant Covid variant in the 27-nation bloc by mid-January.
The head of the EU’s executive branch said the bloc was well prepared to fight Omicron with 66.6 per cent of the European population now fully vaccinated against the virus.
In Better position
Thanks to the high rate of vaccination in the EU bloc and the availability of vaccine doses, Europe is in a better position to fight the virus. —Ursula von der Leyen, EU official
Von der Leyen said she was confident the EU had the “strength” and “means” to overcome the disease, although expressing her disappointment that once again year-end celebrations would be disturbed by the pandemic. “Like many of you, I’m sad that once again this Christmas will be overshadowed by the pandemic,” said Von der Leyen.
She added that the EU was facing a double challenge, with a massive increase of cases in recent weeks due to the Delta variant combined with the rise of Omicron, as some member countries were already confronted with a record number of infections.
“We’re seeing an increasing number of people falling ill, a greater burden on hospitals and unfortunately an increase in the number of deaths,” she said.
US toll crosses 8 lakh mark
Baltimore: The US death toll from Covid has topped 8,00,000, a once-unimaginable figure seen as doubly tragic, given that more than 2,00,000 of those lives were lost after the vaccine became available.