WHO: Omicron could spread faster but it's still not certain

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization says early evidence suggests the omicron variant may be spreading faster than the highly transmissible delta variant but brings with it less severe coronavirus disease -– though it’s too early to make firm conclusions.

The comments come among swirling concerns about the new variant that first emerged in southern Africa last month, prompting some countries to shut their borders and rattling stock markets fearful of the long-term impact of a possible new variant of the virus that has already infected at least 267 million people and killed more than 5.2 million.

Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO’s chief of emergencies, told reporters Wednesday that data about the omicron variant so far is “pointing to a virus that’s efficiently transmitting and probably more efficiently transmitting than even the delta variant,” which is by far the most widespread and deadly version.

Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead for COVID-19 at the U.N. health agency, cautioned that it was too early to determine the severity of disease caused by omicron, saying there’s only “anecdotal information” about that for now.

“We certainly have information from South Africa that many of the patients that are identified with omicron have a more mild course of disease,” she said. “But it does take time for people to go through the full course of their infection.”

Meanwhile, WHO officials stuck to their stance that giving booster shots to people who are already vaccinated should be a secondary priority to getting first doses into the arms of people in places that have relatively little vaccination coverage.

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO’s chief scientist, said “wholesale boosting is not the solution right now.” That appeared to be an allusion to policies in some...