Will the delta variant give in? In a press release published on Thursday, December 2nd, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) estimates that the new Omicron strain could become the majority in Europe “in the next few months” if the confirm the first trends. “Preliminary data indicate a considerable advantage of the new variant compared to the previously dominant delta variant,” it says. On the basis of these mathematical models, “Omicron could cause more than half of the infections with the Sars-CoV-2 virus in the European Union within the next few months,” says the EU authority responsible for diseases.

There are still many uncertainties and the speed with which Omicron could become the majority will depend on the extent of the advantage of the new variant over the previous ones as well as on the extent of the Covid-19 infections, emphasizes the ECDC. The new variant has sparked a wave of panic around the world, but it’s too early to say what impact it will have on the pandemic, experts agree.

Named after the Greek letter Omicron by the World Health Organization (WHO), the variant was first reported in Botswana before it was discovered in South Africa, which announced it on November 25. One day after this announcement, the new variant was classified as “worrying” by the WHO. Three cases of infection have been confirmed in France, including one in Réunion and two other metropolitan areas – a resident in Seine-et-Marne who has returned from a stay in Nigeria and a woman who has been vaccinated in Haut-Rhin who has returned from South Africa. In France there are currently 13 suspected cases of infection with the Omicron variant. The tests are sequenced to confirm them. While many fears remain theoretical for now, there are a number of mutations that are unprecedented from a genetic point of view, including about thirty in the spike protein, key to the virus’ entry into the body.