Covid-19: the Omicron variant now very much in the majority in the United States

This is proof of the meteoric progress of this new strain of Covid-19 around the world. The Omicron variant is now widely dominant in the United States, according to US health authorities. It accounts for about 73% of new infections in the country, up from just 12.6% last week. An explosion that has seen many American states point well above the 90% of Omicron cases. President Joe Biden, in contact three days ago with a member of his team tested positive on Monday, received a negative test and is due to speak on Tuesday in the face of this winter wave which promises to be brutal. He does not envisage “confinement” in the United States for the moment, according to his spokesperson.

But borders are closing, some countries are reconfiguring themselves, others are canceling the end-of-year celebrations in the face of Omicron, detected for the first time in November in southern Africa. “We must wait and collect more information until we understand the real behavior” of this variant, warned Monday the boss of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In the meantime, “a canceled event is better than a life less”, he hammered. “If we are to end the pandemic in the coming year, we must end (vaccine) inequity by ensuring that 70% of the population in each country is vaccinated” by mid-2022 , he added.

>> Read also – Vaccine deliveries accelerate in the EU against the Omicron variant

Canceled holidays in the UK

Twelve people infected with Omicron have died and 104 hospitalized in the United Kingdom, British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab also said on Monday. “If we look at Omicron, what we know is that it is spreading very quickly,” Dominic Raab noted. The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, warned that he “would not hesitate” to tighten the health restrictions, without proceeding to the turn of the screw demanded by some. Meanwhile, Labor Mayor Sadiq Khan on Monday announced the cancellation of his city’s New Year’s festivities.

Because of Omicron, the World Economic Forum, which was to meet from January 17 to 21 in Davos (Switzerland), has been postponed. In the Netherlands, all non-essential shops, restaurants, bars, cinemas, museums and theaters are closed from Sunday until January 14, and schools until at least January 9. Morocco banned all New Year’s celebrations on Monday and Germany is preparing to follow a similar path, closing all nightclubs and reducing contact between individuals including the vaccinated, according to a project consulted by AFP.

>> Read also – Covid-19: green light from the High Authority for Health for the vaccination of all children from 5 to 11 years old

Childhood immunization accelerates

In Europe, Novavax’s vaccine became the fifth approved by the European Commission. It uses a more traditional technology than those used for previously authorized vaccines, which according to this American firm could reduce skepticism among the unvaccinated. “May it be a solid encouragement for the unvaccinated or those who have not recalled!”, Greeted Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the Commission, who had concluded an early contract for 200 million of doses.

In Belgium, the government has just approved the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11, free and voluntary with the consent of the parents, with “a pediatric version of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine” and the first invitations will be launched at the end of December. Several European countries, including Denmark, Austria, Greece, Spain and Portugal, have already approved childhood immunizations. In France, the health authorities gave the green light on Monday and the government hopes to offer it on Wednesday. In Brazil, immunocompromised adults will be able to receive a fourth dose of the vaccine against Covid, four months after the third, announced the Ministry of Health.

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