EU leader calls for more vaccinations to fight new virus variant

Omicron expected to be dominant in Europe by mid-Jan; some states start inoculating kids

BRUSSELS • The Omicron variant will likely be dominant in Europe by mid-January, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday, adding that case numbers appear to be doubling every two or three days.

Ms Von der Leyen said that the current Covid-19 wave in Europe is still being driven by the Delta variant, but it is important to roll out more vaccinations and boosters to fight the new strain. She noted that Europe can now produce 300 million vaccine doses per month.

“We’re going to do everything possible to ensure that vaccination scepticism is overcome because the price that we’ll pay if people are not vaccinated continues to increase,” she said in an address to the European Parliament.