WHO has declared the new Omicron COVID strain a “worrying variant” Coronavirus pandemic News

Nominated by the World Health Organization (WHO) new strain of coronavirus It was detected in South Africa as a “variant of concern” that prompted countries around the world to impose travel restrictions amid fears of its potential expansion.

An WHO advisory panel said on Friday that early evidence shows that New variant B.1.1529Named Omicron after a letter in the Greek alphabet, it increases the risk of re-infection compared to other highly transmissible strains.

Authorities around the world reacted with alarm to Omicron’s appearance, which was first found in South Africa and has since been detected in Belgium, Israel, Botswana and Hong Kong.

They have the European Union and the United Kingdom they set limits on passengers From several South African countries, while researchers wanted to know if the mutation was resistant to vaccines, the United States announced that similar restrictions would begin on Monday.

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical director at COVID-19, said on Friday that Omicron was designated as a “worrying variant” because it has some “worrying” properties.

“It has a lot of mutations and some of those mutations have some disturbing features,” Van Kerkhov said in a video posted on Twitter. However, he added that a lot of research is being done in South Africa and other countries to better understand the severity, transmission and characteristics of Omicron.

The SARS-CoV-2 Virus Development Advisory Group met today to discuss what is known about this # COVID-19 B.1.1.529 variant.
The WHO was advised that the Variation of Concern should be designated.
The WHO has named it Omicron, in line with naming protocols https://t.co/bSbVas9yds pic.twitter.com/Gev1zIt1Ek

– World Health Organization (WHO) (@OME) November 26, 2021

The WHO also said it could take weeks to determine how effective the current COVID-19 vaccines against the variant are.

Helen Rees, chair of the African Immunization Technical Advisory Group, said scientists still don’t know enough to start sounding the alarm about the new variant, and warned not to draw any conclusions.

“The good news is that we are able to quickly identify change. This is good news for the world. But we have to be careful that we don’t jump [to] conclusion[s]. We need to understand a lot more about this, ”Rees told Al Jazeera in Johannesburg.

Travel bans

However, as of Thursday, several countries have banned travel to several African nations, including South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, due to concerns about the new variant.

South African Health Minister Joe Phaahla on Friday he knocked international reactions to Omicron were “unjustified” he told reporters that world leaders were “finding goats to deal with what is a global problem”.

The @MOE It has identified a new variant of COVID that is spreading throughout South Africa. Until I have more information as a precautionary measure, I promise restrictions on air travel from South Africa and seven other countries.

Biden President (@POTUS) November 26, 2021

Phaahla said in a media conference that South Africa was acting transparently and that travel bans were against WHO rules and standards.

Amesh Adalja, chief expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said travel bans were not the right answer. “First, we know that travel restrictions do very little to stop the spread of COVID-19,” Adalja told Al Jazeera.

“The second issue penalizes countries like South Africa for being open and sharing this data.”

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson – whose government imposed travel restrictions on Thursday – praised South Africa’s transparency in sharing scientific data in a phone call with country president Cyril Ramaphosa, Downing Street said.

“They discussed the challenges posed by the new COVID-19 variant globally, and ways to work together to address it and reopen international travel,” the UK government said in a note describing the call.

Inadequate vaccines

Oksana Pyzik, a professor at the College of Pharmacy at University College London, said the new variant “shouldn’t be surprised” among WHO warnings that global vaccine inequality could lead to the emergence of new strains of the virus.

“The World Health Organization has repeatedly warned us … if vaccine inequalities continue since the pandemic began[s] … which will inevitably lead to a more appropriate virus, a virus that can be resistant to the vaccine, ”Pyzik told Al Jazeera in Geneva.

“So as we look across the African continent, less than 3.5 per cent of vaccines are being taken at the moment and that has been due to a supply problem,” he added.

Mosa Moshabela, a public health professor at KwaZulu-Natal University in South Africa, said scientists although they do not know exactly how Omicron behaves, the two main concerns are transmissibility and potential resistance to immunity to vaccines and previous infections.

Moshabela said another major fear for African nations is that the new variant could lead to serious illness and cause stress to the health system.

“In Africa, what worries us the most is that a lot of our people don’t get vaccinated,” he told Al Jazeera. “And if a lot of people get vaccinated, we would be looking at a scenario where a majority will have mild illnesses when they are infected with the variant, and so as not to put pressure on the hospital system.”

For his part, WHO leader Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on the world to “accelerate efforts to provide vaccine equity as soon as possible and protect the most vulnerable everywhere” because of Omicron’s “worrying” mutations.

Tedros he said on Wednesday, at a meeting of World Trade Organization (WTO) ministers next week, he hoped to reach a consensus on the IP exemption for coronavirus vaccines, a measure that already has the support of more than 100 countries.

U.S. President Joe Biden reiterated his commitment to resign from his administration on Friday, encouraging countries will attend next week’s WTO meeting to support the measure “so that these vaccines can be manufactured worldwide”.

“I accepted that attitude in April; Today’s news reiterates the importance of moving forward quickly, ”Biden said in a statement.