(CNN) – alternative omicron European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the novel coronavirus will become the dominant alternative in Europe in mid-January.
During a parliamentary debate in Brussels, von der Leyen said the bloc is currently facing a “double challenge” due to the sudden rise in Covid-19 cases caused mainly by the delta variable and the omicron increase.
“We are seeing an increase in the number of people getting sick, a greater burden on hospitals and, unfortunately, an increase in the number of deaths,” von der Leyen said.
“It’s very important to keep in mind that this significant increase in infections is almost exclusively due to the delta variant, and what worries me is that we now see a new variant, omicron, on the horizon, which appears to be more contagious,” he said.
“We were told that by mid-January we should expect Omicron to be the new dominant alternative in Europe,” von der Leyen added.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. (Gintz Evoscans/AFP via Getty Images)
The EU president said Europe is now “in a better position to fight the virus”, with “sufficient doses of the vaccine for every European,” adding that more than 300 million people in the EU have been fully vaccinated.
He added that 62 million people received a booster dose.
“Preliminary omicron data show us that this triple injection is the best protection against the new variant,” said Von der Leyen.