The fast-spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus had on Tuesday been detected in a number of new countries, including in Japan, and prompted 2022 Winter Olympics host China to warn that the virus will pose challenges in holding the games. 

The Omicron variant first detected in South Africa poses a "very high" global risk, the World Health Organization has warned, urging governments to accelerate vaccination of high-priority groups. Follow FRANCE 24’s coverage of the day’s events.

The new fast-spreading Omicron variant was detected in the Netherlands a week earlier than previously thought - prior to the November 26 flights from South Africa initially blamed for bringing the mutated coronavirus into the country, the National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said Tuesday.

“We have found the Omicron coronavirus variant in two test samples that were taken on November 19 and November 23,” it said. “It is not clear yet whether these people have visited Southern Africa.”

At least 14 people on two flights from Johannesburg and Capetown arrived in the Netherlands on Nov. 26 carried the new variant, the RIVM said.

11:30 am Paris time: EU could approve shot against Omicron ‘in 3-4 months’
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said Tuesday it could approve vaccines adapted to target the Omicron variant of the coronavirus within three to four months if needed, but that existing shots will continue to provide protection.

“Were there a need to change the existing vaccines, we could be in a position to have those approved within three to four months,” EMA executive director Emer Cooke told the European Parliament.

“Companies adapting their formulations to include the new sequencing (...) will then have to show that the production system works, they will then have to do some clinical trials to determine that this actually works in practice.”

In a letter sent out to the 27-nation bloc’s health ministers on Tuesday, the European Union’s health commissioner Stella Kyriakides member states to boost efforts to detect coronavirus mutations.

“Certain Member States lag behind considerably in terms of this crucial dimension,” she wrote.

The Omicron variant, which was first found in southern Africa, has now been identified in several European countries, but it is hard to track its spread as various countries do not carry out sufficient genome sequencing of positive samples.

Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoereon has urged Norwegians to wear face masks on public transport and in other crowded places amid a surge in new coronavirus infections.

He also urged municipalities to accelerate a drive to give booster shots to all adults, saying: “we can avoid a lockdown.”

Norway in September ended all domestic coronavirus restrictions, but opposition parties in recent days called on the government to take action to prevent the spread of the virus and thus avoid a hard lockdown of society.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Stephane Bancel, the head of US vaccine manufacturer Moderna said that data will be available on the effectiveness of current vaccines in the next two weeks but that scientists are not optimistic.

“All the scientists I’ve talked to ... are like ‘this is not going to be good’,” he said, adding there will be be a “material drop” in the effectiveness of current jabs against Omicron.

Bancel said researchers were concerned because 32 of 50 mutations found in the Omicron variant were on the spike protein, a part of the virus that vaccines use to bolster the immune system against Covid-19.

Moderna has already said it is working on an Omicron-specific vaccine, as is US drugmaker Pfizer.

Chief executive Bancel said his company could deliver between two billion and three billion doses in 2022 but it would be dangerous to shift all production to an Omicron-specific shot with other strains of the virus still in circulation.

China has warned that the Omicron variant will cause challenges in hosting next February’s Winter Olympics in Beijing.

“I think it will definitely lead to challenges linked to prevention and control,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.

Japan has confirmed its first case of the Omicron coronavirus variant, a day after authorities announced new Covid border restrictions.

The case was flagged during routine testing at an airport, where a man in his 30s, who had travelled to Japan from Namibia, tested positive to Covid-19.

The man is now in isolation at a medical facility.

On Monday, Japan tightened its border rules, barring all new foreign arrivals to the country for fears of the newly discovered variant.

Japan has recorded just over 18,300 coronavirus deaths during the pandemic.

France 24