There is a “very high” risk the omicron variant of Covid-19 will become dominant in Europe by early next year and lead to a growing number of hospital admissions and deaths, the EU’s public health body said on Wednesday.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a report that the omicron variant of concern (VOC) was likely to overtake delta within the first two months of 2022.

ECDC said data was not yet sufficient to assess the severity of disease caused by the omicron variant. However, even if the severity of Covid-19 it caused was lower than that caused by delta, the increased transmissibility would rapidly outweigh any potential benefits. “It is, therefore, considered very likely that the omicron VOC will cause additional hospitalisations and fatalities.