CAIRO- An official at the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office said on Wednesday seven countries in the region have not yet reached a threshold of 10% vaccination coverage.

These countries represent a high-risk setting for the emergence of further variants, Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari told a news conference.

(Reporting by Ahmed Elhamy, writing by Nafisa Eltahir, editing by Andrew Heavens) ((Nafisa.Eltahir@thomsonreuters.com;))