Omicron quickly overtaking Delta, efficacy of vaccines reduced: WHO - NewsBytes

The Omicron variant of coronavirus is rapidly displacing the Delta variant and reaching global dominance, said a senior official from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday.Although it causes a less severe COVID-19, there is "increasing evidence" that Omicron can escape prior immunity, warned WHO's Infectious Disease Epidemiologist and COVID-19 Technical Lead Maria Van Kerkhove.She said that Omicron is becoming the most common variant found in infected persons.Since December, six studies have found evidence of lower vaccination efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines against the Omicron variant, the WHO update said.