(Reuters). Despite producing less severe diseases than the global dominant Delta strain, the Omicron OVID-19 variant seems more dangerous. However, it shouldn’t be classified as mild. This was the conclusion of the World Health Organization (WHO), on Thursday.

At a press conference, Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, the director general of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated his demand for more equity in global vaccine distribution and access.

Tedros said that based on current vaccine rollout rates, 109 countries are likely to miss WHO’s goal for 70% vaccinations by July. It is hoped that this goal will help to end the acute phase.

Maria van Kerkhove (the WHO’s technical leader on COVID-19), said another variant, which is labelled IHU. It was registered for the first time in September 2021.

There are two other categories of greater significance the WHO uses to track variants https://www.who.int/en/activities/tracking-SARS-CoV-2-variants: “variant of concern”, which includes Delta and Omicron, and “variant of interest”.

Bruce Aylward from WHO stated that only 36 nations have reached the 10 percent mark in vaccination coverage during the Geneva briefing. He said that 80 percent of severe cases in the world were not vaccinated.