Ómicron has established itself in Asia, Africa, America, the Middle East and Europe and has reached seven of the nine South African provinces where it was first identified. Many governments have tightened travel rules to avoid the variant.
Not much is known yet about the new variant, which has been detected in more than two dozen countries as parts of Europe grapple with a wave of delta variant infections.
Australia became the latest country to report community transmission of the new variant, a day after it was found in five US states.
WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said earlier at a United Nations briefing in Geneva that vaccine manufacturers should prepare for the possibility of having to adjust their products.
Ugur Sahin, chief executive of German biotech BioNTech, which makes a coronavirus vaccine with Pfizer, said they should be able to adapt their doses relatively quickly. He also indicated that current vaccines should continue to provide protection against serious disease despite mutations.
Takeshi Kasai, WHO director for the Western Pacific, told a news conference that vaccines are the solution and that border controls can only buy time.
“People should not rely only on border measures. The most important thing is to prepare for these variants with potentially high transmissibility. So far, the available information suggests that we do not have to change our approach,” he said.
Kasai urged countries to fully vaccinate vulnerable groups and adhere to preventive measures such as the use of masks and social distancing.
Nearly 264 million people have been infected by the coronavirus since it was first detected in China in late 2019, with 5.48 million dead, according to a Reuters tally.
Vaccination rates vary from country to country, but there are worrying gaps in the poorest nations. Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world and once the epicenter of the Asian virus, has fully inoculated only about 35% of its population.
Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly said it is likely to become the dominant variant globally in a few months, but there is no evidence at this stage that it is more dangerous than delta.
In the United States, the administration of President Joe Biden announced measures to protect itself against the spread of the virus. As of Monday, arriving international air travelers will have to have tested negative on a test carried out the day before the trip.
In addition to wreaking havoc on the travel industry, the crisis has hit financial markets and undermined major economies just as they were beginning to rebound from delta-caused lockdowns.
Source From: Ambito
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