It’s too soon to know if the variant causes milder COVID, but its transmissibility and ability to evade vaccines are still cause for concern

early data are based largely on reports from South Africa—a country with a relatively young population and high level of prior infection—and on reports involving international travelers, who tend to be younger and healthier.

If Omicron does cause less severe disease than previous variants, the sheer number of infections could still result in a similar or greater number of severe cases.