SOCHI, December 7. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has cautioned against hasty judgments regarding the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, and cited experts who compare the strain to a live vaccine.

At a meeting devoted to economic issues on Tuesday Putin pointed to several tasks to be coped with in developing the country and the economy.

He said that the results "will have to be achieved under difficult conditions of an epidemic, the spread of a new strain of coronavirus". "Although they say it is not as harmful as it seems, some experts even call it 'live vaccination'," Putin noted.

"Let us not rush things. In any case, the markets have bounced back. Some fears have turned out to be premature, but in any case, we must proceed from what we have experienced over the past 18 months," Putin said. "The authorities are already aware of the latent obstacles and their effects on the economy." He stressed that he was waiting for a report on the issue to be made to him in the near future.

The World Health Organization on November 26 named the coronavirus variant B.1.1.529 Omicron. The global epicenter for the spread of the omicron strain is southern Africa. So far, a majority of those infected have been identified in South Africa. The new strain has been detected in more than 30 countries but not a single Omicron-related fatality has been recorded so far.

On December 6, two new Omicron cases were discovered in Russia among arrivals from South Africa.