RELATED: EU orders travel ban on South Africa over omicron COVID-19 variantThe emergence of the omicron varianthas renewed fears of the novel coronavirus acquiring mutations that would allow it to evade existing vaccines.
Scientists in South Africa announced the new variant’s discovery this week and said it shows several mutations and clues it could be highly infectious.An advisory panel of the World Health Organization on Friday classified the worrying new variant as a highly transmissible virus of concern, naming it "omicron" under its Greek-letter system.RELATED: Omicron variant reignites COVID-19 fears around the worldThe U.N.