Drugmakers including Moderna and Pfizer are already working on an Omicron-specific vaccine. (file)
London:
Current COVID-19 vaccinations will struggle against the fast-spreading Omicron variant, the head of vaccine maker Moderna warned Tuesday, as countries ramp up vaccination programs and impose further restrictions in an effort to stem the growing concern.
First reported to the World Health Organization less than a week ago in South Africa, the new strain has rapidly spread from Africa to the Pacific, and dozens of countries from Europe to North America have announced travel restrictions.
Although there have been no deaths from Omicron so far, and it may take weeks to know how infectious and how resistant a strain may prove to be to the vaccine, its emergence underscores that nearly two years after the first cases How surrounded is the world by Kovid-19. were recorded.
Stephen Bansell, the head of US vaccine maker Moderna, told the Financial Times in an interview published Tuesday that data on vaccines’ effectiveness would be available in two weeks’ time, but scientists were pessimistic.
Cautioning against a “material decline” in the effectiveness of current jabs against Omicron, Bansal said, “The scientists I’ve talked to … are like ‘this isn’t going to be good’.”
Moderna, US drugmaker Pfizer and Russian vaccine backer Sputnik V have all announced that they are already working on an Omicron-specific vaccine.
Scientists in South Africa said they had detected the new variant with at least 10 mutations, compared with three for beta or two for delta – the strain that influenced global recovery and returned millions of lives worldwide. Shipped in lockdown.
China warned that the fast-spreading Omicron edition would face challenges in hosting next February’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, with thousands of athletes, media and visitors from abroad entering a dire “closed-loop” bubble. Will have to do
‘urgent action’
“I think this will certainly lead to challenges related to prevention and control,” said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.
“But China has a lot of experience in responding to COVID-19,” Zhao said. “I firmly believe that the Winter Olympics will be conducted smoothly.”
On Monday, US President Joe Biden said tensions are “a cause for concern, not a cause for panic,” insisting that he does not extend new lockdowns or travel restrictions.
G7 health ministers called for “immediate action” to counter the Omicron version.
The WHO said the overall risk from omicrons was “very high” and warned that any major surge would strain health systems and lead to more deaths.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday that Omicron could slow the recovery of the US economy and labor market and increase uncertainty over inflation.
Governments, especially in Western Europe, were already struggling with a rapid increase in the number of cases and have reintroduced mandatory mask-wearing, social-distancing measures, curfews or lockdowns Another serious Christmas scare.
Germany’s outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel was to meet remotely with her successor Olaf Scholz and regional leaders on Tuesday to decide whether to tighten restrictions to prevent raging infections in the EU’s biggest economy.
Germany’s Constitutional Court has ruled that sweeping restrictions such as curfews, school closures and contact restrictions were valid, already over capacity, with hospitals sounding the alarm for longer periods likely to pave the way for further restrictions.
Vaccination restrictions
“Contacts must be minimized,” said Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Robert Hebeck, calling for tougher restrictions such as banning illiterate people from “all public facilities” apart from essential shops.
On Tuesday, Greece said coronavirus vaccines would be mandatory for those over 60, a day after Britain said all adults would now be eligible for a third Covid jab. On Tuesday, Norway also said it would offer a booster shot to all adults before Easter, as a better measure of lockdown.
And in Switzerland, in what some were hoping would be a prosperous ski season, hoteliers said they were facing a wave of winter cancellations following quarantine restrictions being imposed on travelers from some countries, including Britain.
Industry group Hotellerie Suisse said hotels had seen “mass cancellations of corporate events and Christmas parties”, calling on political leaders to take steps to avoid the lockdown and maintain financial aid to a sector already hit by the pandemic. did.
A ministerial meeting on the WTO, which was due to take place in Geneva this week but which was postponed due to Omicron, could now take place as early as March 2022, the body said.
The first confirmed case of the Omicron variant was in South Africa on 9 November, with the infection spreading rapidly in the country.
Russia, which has the highest toll from the virus in Europe and has not yet reported a case of the Omicron variant, on Tuesday recorded its lowest total new daily infections since October 15.
Kazakhstan has banned flights to Egypt, a popular tourist destination over Omicron, from 3 December.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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