
With an Omicron offshoot spearheading a burgeoning COVID-19 wave in Europe, countries need to accelerate vaccine uptake and bring back measures such as mask wearing to avoid stricter measures as autumn and winter approach, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official warned on Tuesday.
In an interview with Reuters, WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge urged countries to take action now to avoid overwhelming health systems as the spread of the Omicron subvariant, BA.5, gathers steam.