A "shocking" increase in coronavirus cases in WHO member countries in the eastern Mediterranean may be due to the Omicron variant, an IAEA official said, warning that some of those countries still have very low vaccination rates.
Confirmed cases in the region increased by 89% in the first week of January, compared to a week earlier, but the number of deaths from complications covid-19 decreased by 13%, as announced today by the WHO Regional Director, Ahmed al-Madhari.
Of the 22 countries in the region, mainly in the Middle East, 15 have officially reported cases of the highly transmitted Omicron.
"Although Omicron appears to cause less severe disease than the previous variant, Delta, especially in the unvaccinated, this certainly does not mean that it should be underestimated, as it still leads to hospitalization and death," he said.
According to the official, six countries in the region - Afghanistan, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - have vaccinated less than 10% of their populations despite having enough vaccines to protect up to 40 %.
Only 36 countries worldwide have similarly low vaccination rates, according to the WHO.
Al-Mandhari added that vaccination campaigns have been affected by problems including lack of political commitment, insecurity as well as logistical challenges.
Source: RES-EAP
