WHO: The micron strain of the coronavirus is particularly dangerous for those who have not been vaccinated

The Omicron strain of the coronavirus is particularly dangerous for those who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on January 12.

"While omicron causes less severe disease than the delta strain, it is still a dangerous virus, especially for those who are unvaccinated," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference.

In Africa, as he stated, more than 85 percent of people have yet to receive one dose of the vaccine.

"We cannot end the acute phase of the pandemic if we do not close this gap," Gebrejesus said, stating that 90 countries in the world have not yet reached 40 percent of the vaccinated population, and that 36 countries are still below the 10 percent mark.

"The vast majority of people in hospitals around the world are unvaccinated," he added.

Gebrejesus said that while vaccines remain highly effective in preventing severe illness and death from COVID, they do not completely prevent transmission.

"More transmission means more hospitalizations, more deaths and a greater risk of another variant emerging that is even more infectious and deadly than omicron," said the WHO director-general.

He said the number of deaths worldwide has stabilized at around 50.000 a week.

"Learning to live with this virus does not mean that we can or should accept this number of deaths," Gebrejesus underlined.