US
Vaccines also continue to provide similar protection against BA.2 coronavirus variant, says official
Omicron has raised hopes Covid-19 is starting to shift from a pandemic to a manageable endemic illness like flu
Technical team says it would consider a change in vaccination composition to make the shots more effective
Nonetheless, official says the strain poses a threat in countries where populations remain unvaccinated
WHO chief scientist says the variant was successfully evading some immune responses
UN health agency says more data is needed to understand how severity is impacted by vaccination, pre-existing immunity
The WHO says Omicron had spread to 63 countries as of December 9
WHO says it will take several weeks to determine severity of new variant
Soumya Swaminathan says it is impossible to predict if Omicron would become dominant strain
Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant as compared to others