Dec 16, 2021: As the threat from the highly transmissible omicron variant looms, European nations started vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 against COVID-19 on Wednesday in an effort to contain a raging pandemic.
Meanwhile the death toll from COVID-19 in the United States topped 800,000, a once-unimaginable figure seen as doubly tragic since more than 200,000 of those lives were lost after the vaccine became widely available last spring.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday noted what he called a “tragic milestone.” He again called on unvaccinated Americans to get shots for themselves and their children, and urged the vaccinated to get booster shots.
“I urge all Americans: do your patriotic duty to keep our country safe, to protect yourself and those around you and to honor the memory of all those we have lost,” Biden said, according to The Associated Press (AP). “Now is the time.”
Omicron now accounts for around 3% of cases in the United States, a figure that is expected to rise rapidly as has been seen in other countries. Although Britain on Monday confirmed what is thought to be the first omicron death globally, there is no proof yet that the variant causes more severe illness.
Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Spain were among those opening up their inoculation drives to younger kids, with other nations still weighing their approach.
The push was lent fresh urgency by the rapid spread of the heavily mutated Omicron variant, which EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned could be dominant in Europe by mid-January.
Denmark, which has seen a surge in cases attributed to the highly contagious new omicron variant, and some Austrian regions already began offering jabs to younger kids in November. The United States was the first large country to take the plunge and has so far vaccinated more than five million children aged 5 to 11.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that omicron is expected to be the dominant coronavirus variant in the 27-nation bloc by mid-January, amid concerns that a dramatic rise of infections will leave Europe shrouded in gloom during the festive season.
The head of the EU’s executive branch, however, said that the bloc is well prepared to fight omicron, with 66.6% of the European population now fully vaccinated against the virus.
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