There is a "high to very high" risk that the new Covid variant, named Omicron by the World Health Organization on Friday, will spread in Europe, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said Friday.
"There is considerable uncertainty related to the transmissibility, vaccine effectiveness, risk for reinfections and other properties of the Omicron variant. However, given its immune escape potential and potentially increased transmissibility advantage compared to Delta, we assess the probability of further introduction and community spread in the EU/EEA as HIGH. In a situation where the Delta variant is resurgent in the EU/EEA, the impact of the introduction and possible further spread of Omicron could be VERY HIGH. In conclusion, the overall level of risk for the EU/EEA associated with the SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron is assessed as HIGH to VERY HIGH," the ECDC said.
More context: The WHO announced Friday that it has designated Omicron, which was identified as coronavirus variant B.1.1.529, as a variant of concern.
Besides South Africa, the newly identified variant has been detected in Botswana, Hong Kong and Belgium.
It appears to be spreading rapidly in parts of South Africa and scientists are concerned that its unusually high number of mutations could make it more transmissible and result in immune evasion.
WHO's Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE), an independent group of experts, met Friday to discuss the variant, a WHO statement said.
The advisers recommended that WHO designate the variant as "of concern," referencing the variant's large number of mutations, the possibility of increased risk of reinfection and other evidence.