The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading faster than the Delta variant and is causing infections in people already vaccinated or who have recovered from the COVID-19 disease, the head of WHO said on Monday. WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan added it would be “unwise” to conclude from early evidence that Omicron was a milder variant than previous ones. The variant is successfullyevading②some immune responses, she said, meaning that the booster programmes being rolled out in many countries ought to be targeted towards people with weaker immune systems. “There is now consistent evidence that Omicron is spreading significantly faster than the Delta variant,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told thebriefing③. In the short term, Tedros said that holiday festivities would in many places lead to “increased cases, overwhelmed health systems and more deaths” and urged people to postpone gatherings. “An event cancelled is better than a life cancelled,” he said. But the WHO team also offered some hope to aweary④world facing the new wave that 2022 would be the year that the pandemic, which already killed more than 5.6 million people worldwide, would end. (Reuters)

世卫组织总干事谭德塞12月20日表示，奥密克戎变异株的传播速度快于德尔塔变异株；新冠疫苗接种者或康复者都会感染该病毒。世卫组织首席科学家苏米娅·斯瓦米纳坦还表示，根据早期证据就得出奥密克戎比之前毒株“更温和”这一结论是“不明智的”。她说，这种变异株能够成功躲避免疫系统的攻击，这就意味着许多国家推出的加强针计划应该针对那些免疫系统较弱的人群。世卫组织总干事谭德塞在发布会上说：“目前有一致的证据表明，奥密克戎正以远快于德尔塔的速度传播。”谭德塞表示，短期来看，许多地方的节日庆典会导致感染病例攀升、卫生系统不堪重负及死亡病例增加，他力劝人们推迟聚会。他说：“活动取消总好过生命逝去。”但世卫组织该团队也表示2022年将是疫情终了之年，这给新一轮疫情冲击下疲惫不堪的世界带来了一些希望。目前新冠疫情已造成全球560多万人死亡。