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The new coronavirus variant Omicron is spreading across the globe at an unprecedented rate, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned. Cases of the heavily mutated variant have been confirmed in 77 countries. The WHO's latest data suggests the variant - first detected in South Africa in November - can better evade existing vaccines and carries a higher risk of re-infection, leading the organisation to say the level of risk remains very high.

Dr Richard Pebody, who leads the High Threat Pathogen team at WHO/Europe, says that although the effectiveness of vaccines may be less than against Delta and earlier variants, these still offer protection against more serious disease developing.

Photo: A teenager receives a Covid-19 vaccine at a in Pretoria, South Africa Credit: EPA