EU Commission President: "Omicron to Become Dominant Variant in the Region by Mid-January Next Year"

"Currently, the Most Important Task is Increasing the Vaccination Rate"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU), stated, "The new COVID-19 variant Omicron is expected to become the dominant strain within the region by mid-January next year."

According to the Associated Press on the 15th (local time), President von der Leyen made this statement at the European Parliament, saying, "66.6% of the entire EU population has completed COVID-19 vaccination, so we are well prepared to fight Omicron." She also added that 62 million people have received booster shots.

President von der Leyen explained, "The number of Omicron infections in the UK is currently doubling every 2 to 3 days, and it appears to be spreading at the same rate within the EU."

She continued, "The EU has recently faced two challenges: a surge in cases due to the Delta variant and an increase in Omicron cases. The burden on hospitals is increasing, and deaths are rising, but the current increase in cases is mostly due to the Delta variant."

Regarding the Omicron variant, she added, "Early data shows that booster shots are the best protection."

She emphasized, "The most important task now is to increase the overall vaccination rate, including children," and stressed, "There is a need to strengthen the fight against 'vaccine hesitancy.'"

Meanwhile, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) announced the day before that among the 30 countries including the 27 EU member states and Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein in the European Economic Area (EEA), a total of 2,127 Omicron infection cases have been confirmed in 25 countries so far.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.