On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that Omicron was spreading at an unprecedented rate and asked countries to take action, while Pfizer said that their coronavirus tablet was effective against the version.

As Europe battles a new wave of infections and hospital admissions, Dutch primary schools will close early, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a crucial parliamentary test in his attempt to impose new COVID restrictions.

Omicron was discovered by South Africa and notified to the WHO on November 24. It possesses a huge number of mutations, which has raised anxiety since its discovery.

Early evidence suggests it may be vaccine-resistant and more transmissible than the Delta form, which was first discovered in India and accounts for the majority of coronavirus cases worldwide.

The strain had been reported in 77 countries, according to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and had "probably" spread undetected to most countries "at a rate we have not seen with any previous variety."

According to a Johns Hopkins University tracker, the United States is the country hardest afflicted by the pandemic, with 800,000 known COVID-19 deaths as of Tuesday.

No confirmation that omicron is more lethal

Although Britain reported the world's first Omicron death on Monday, there is still no confirmation that the variation causes more serious illness.

The WHO expressed cautious hope on Tuesday, noting that Africa had seen a large increase in cases over the past week but fewer deaths than in prior waves.

However, it advised governments to act quickly to stop the spread of the virus, defend their health systems, and avoid complacency.

Bruce Aylward, a WHO expert, cautioned against "coming to the idea that this is a benign condition," adding that "we might be putting ourselves in a perilous scenario."

Vaccine apartheid 2.0

As Omicron becomes an international threat, developing and developed countries alike are seeking ways to contain the pandemic. 

However, with the 'vaccine apartheid' which has spilled from the past year onto today, there will be an abysmal 'jab gap' between high-income countries and low-income countries. 

Although it has been predicted that there will be at least a billion-vaccine surplus by the end of 2021, recently, Covax announced that it will not be able to satisfy the vaccine needs of developing countries, which have only vaccinated some 0.5% of their populations. 

Tedros, Director-general of the World Health Organization, pointed out that 41 countries have yet to vaccinate even 10 percent of their populations.

Commenting on boosters, he said there was not yet enough data to show a third dose is needed to effectively protect healthy adults against the variant, continuing to say that "as we move forward, boosters could play an important role."