The Minister of Health, Armindo Tiago, announced on Monday in Maputo that Mozambique already has 17 cases of infection by the omicron variant.

The official was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the "vaccine caravan".

This number of cases includes the 'first' two - one with mild symptoms and one with none - that raised suspicions of omicron variant infection in November.

"All [the cases] were confirmed," which led to Mozambique being on the list of countries with confirmed cases of the new variant.

The Minister considers that the spread of omicron "requires the strengthening of preventive measures," including the vaccine against the new coronavirus.

The "vaccine caravan" is an initiative that aims to accelerate the immunization process against covid-19 in Mozambique, and is going through the most populated places, such as markets and squares.

About 4.6 million Mozambicans have already been fully vaccinated against the pandemic and just over 7.1 million people have received the first dose of the immunizer, according to the latest data from the Health authorities.

Mozambique has a cumulative total of 1,945 deaths and 153,787 covid-19 positive cases, of which 149,964 have recovered from the disease.