WHO chief warns of 'tsunami' of cases if variants combine

The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday he was worried about the omicron and delta variants of COVID-19 combining to produce a "tsunami" of cases, but remained hopeful 2022 will be the year in which the world puts the pandemic behind it.

Noting that 92 out of 194 nations worldwide had missed a target to vaccinate 40% of their populations, he urged governments and civil society to join a new campaign to reach 70% global coverage by mid-2022.