"Globally, we have a toxic mix of low vaccine coverage, and very low testing - a recipe for breeding and amplifying variants. That's why we continue to urge countries to fully fund the ACT Accelerator, to ensure equitable access to vaccine, tests and therapeutics all over the world," Tedros said.
'Omicron' became a conversational piece on social media, with many users across the world questioning the WHO's choices, and debating over reasons behind the decision on skipping 'Nu' and 'Xi'.
The development comes shortly after WHO had said that it is “not yet clear” whether the newly-detected coronavirus variant Omicron is more transmissible.
WHO’s regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, called on countries to follow science and international health regulations in order to avoid using travel restrictions.
There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants, the WHO said.
WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution met on Friday and designated B.1.1.529 as a variant of concern and named it Omicron.
The announcement Friday from the United Nations health agency marks the first time in months that WHO has classified a COVID-19 variant as such.
Belgium became the first European Union country to announce a case of the variant.
The new variant has been red-flagged by scientists over an alarmingly high number of spike mutations that might make the virus more resistant to vaccines, increase its transmissibility and lead to more severe COVID-19 symptoms.
Today is a big day for 137 crore Indians. The indigenous 'Made in India' vaccine - Covaxin has been approved by WHO. This is the biggest good news before Diwali. Some people are still avoiding the vaccine. However, this is the biggest present ahead of Diwali.
Though Covaxin has been added in the Oman approval list, however, Bharat Biotech is still awaiting its vaccine's approval from the World Health Organization (WHO), which on Tuesday sought additional data to decide on much-awaited Emergency Use Listing (EUL).
Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, which has developed Covaxin, had submitted EOI (Expression of Interest) to the WHO on April 19 for the vaccine's Emergency Use Listing (EUL).
Earlier this week, the global health organisation had said in a tweet that it is expecting one additional piece of information from Bharat Biotech regarding COVAXIN.
On Sunday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the G20 countries to help collect USD 8 billion to ensure a fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines around the world.
India took 85 days to touch the 10-crore vaccination mark, 45 more days to cross the 20-crore mark and 29 more days to reach the 30-crore mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
Earlier on Monday, the WHO said it is expecting one additional piece of information from Bharat Biotech regarding its COVID-19 vaccine COVAXIN.
The global health agency also emphasized that it must evaluate a vaccine thoroughly to make sure it is "safe and effective".
The technical advisory group of the World Health Organisation (WHO) will meet on October 26 to consider the emergency use listing (EUL) for Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, Chief Scientist at WHO, Soumya Swaminathan said on Sunday.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the news during his press briefing from Geneva, "following a public call for experts."
WHO said its decision was based on results from ongoing research in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi that has tracked more than 800,000 children since 2019.
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