VORONEZH, January 20./TASS/. The new coronavirus variant, Omicron, is more contagious but less deadly, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a meeting with the governor of the Russian Voronezh Region, Alexander Gusev, urging local residents to get vaccinated.

"It is very important to see that the residents of the Voronezh Region also get vaccinated and observe all sanitary-epidemiological requirements," the prime minister said. "Since our first concern is the availability of a sufficient number of beds and the possibility to provide medical service in primary care if a person becomes infected," Mishustin went on to say. "This is the most important thing, since the new Omicron strain is more contagious but less deadly, according to specialists," he stressed.

According to the Russian anti-coronavirus crisis center, 10,938,261 coronavirus cases have been reported across the country overall. As many as 9,950,333 patients have recovered and 324,060 people have died from COVID-19.