The prevailing coronavirus variant commonly known as �Omicorn� was reported in at least 57 countries of the world.
This development was confirmed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday. Covid cases have been on the rise in Southern Africa including Zimbabwe.
Various reports indicated that more than a million vaccine doses had expired in Nigeria due to incompetence of authorities. Medical experts fear that these expired vaccines may land in the black market.
�More data was needed to assess the severity of disease caused by the Omicron variant and whether its mutations may reduce protection from vaccine-derived immunity,� the WHO said in its weekly epidemiological report.
“Even if the severity is equal or potentially even lower than for Delta variant, it is expected that hospitalizations will increase if more people become infected and that there will be a time lag between an increase in the incidence of cases and an increase in the incidence of deaths.�
It is however pertinent to mention that Pakistan is one of the few countries of the world that handled the coronavirus situation effectively.
Pakistan has not yet reported even one case of the new Omicron variant owing to the measures taken by the incumbent PTI-led government.
