The World Health Organization on Tuesday (November 30) warned countries not to impose a comprehensive travel ban on the new Omicron coronavirus variant, as governments and scientists try to determine how much protection the current vaccine provides against the strain.
After the head of the drugmaker Moderna stated that the existing COVID-19 vaccine was less effective on the Omicron variant, the financial market fell sharply. After widespread declines in Europe and Asia, the MSCI Global Stock Index fell 1.39% every day.
The CEO of BioNTech made positive comments cautiously, stating that the vaccine produced in collaboration with Pfizer may provide strong protection against Omicron’s serious disease, which was first reported in Southern Africa a week ago.
With the emergence of transmission cases of the new variant, questions about the effectiveness of the vaccine have emerged, and the first case reported in Latin America occurred in Brazil. Anvisa, the country’s health regulator, said that a traveller and his wife who had arrived in Sao Paulo from South Africa were apparently infected.
Health officials said on Tuesday that Canada will expand the ban on travelers from Southern Africa, including travelers from Nigeria, Malawi and Egypt, to 10 countries. Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Canada will require people arriving by air from all countries except the United States to be tested for COVID-19.
The World Health Organization (WHO) requires countries to adopt an “evidence-based and risk-based approach” to any travel measures, including the possible screening or isolation of international travelers. It said that a comprehensive travel ban will not prevent the spread of Omicron.
However, the WHO stated that people over 60 years of age who have not been fully vaccinated or have no previous evidence of SARS-COV-2 infection and people with underlying health conditions should be advised to postpone travel. The WHO revised its earlier statement to make it clear that the warning to people over 60 is for people who have not been fully vaccinated.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he understands the concerns about Omicron.
But he added: “I am also worried that several member states are adopting blunt and packaged measures that are not based on evidence or are inherently ineffective, which will only increase inequality.”
Vaccine problem
Emercock, executive director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), told the European Parliament that existing vaccines will continue to provide protection.
Andrea Ammon, president of the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC), said that to date, Omicron cases confirmed in 10 EU countries are mild or asymptomatic, despite their young age.
After the news of Omicron was first discovered in Southern Africa on Friday and announced on November 25, the global stock market evaporated about $2 trillion.
Moderna’s CEO Stephane Bancel told the Financial Times: “I don’t think there is any world (efficiency) at the same level as Delta Air Lines…
“I think this will be a substantial drop. I just don’t know how much, because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I talked to… said,’This is not going to be a good thing.'”
Oxford University stated that there is no evidence that the current vaccine cannot prevent Omicron’s serious disease, but it is prepared to quickly update the vaccine developed in cooperation with AstraZeneca if necessary.
On Tuesday, the administration of US President Joe Biden (Joe Biden) encountered two more legal setbacks in its vaccine policy. A federal judge blocked a vaccination rule for healthcare workers and applied the ruling nationwide while the order was still in effect.
Another federal judge prevented the US government from imposing vaccination tasks on government contractors in three states.
lab testing
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals stated that its COVID-19 antibody cocktail and other similar antiviral therapies may be less effective on the latest variants.
According to EMA’s Cooke, “Cross Neutralization” is a laboratory test to check whether an approved vaccine is effective for Omicron, and it takes about two weeks. She said that if the COVID-19 vaccine needs to be replaced, the new vaccine can be approved within three or four months.
John Wherry, director of the Institute of Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, said: “Vaccinations may still keep you away from the hospital.”
Moderna and other drugmakers BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson are already working on a vaccine specifically targeting Omicron. Moderna has also been testing higher doses of existing boosters.
BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin told Reuters that BioNTech and Pfizer’s vaccines may provide strong protection against serious diseases caused by the new variants.
Sahin said he expects laboratory tests to show a loss of protection from mild and moderate diseases due to Omicron, but the extent of this loss is difficult to predict.
Border control
The border closure has cast a shadow over the economic recovery, and with the advent of winter, parts of Europe are now experiencing a fourth wave of infections.
Japan confirmed its first case of the new variant on a traveler from Namibia on Tuesday. Australia found that Omicron patients had been to a busy shopping mall in Sydney, but they could be contagious.
Both the United Kingdom and the United States have promoted their booster programs to deal with the new variants. London stated that international immigrants must self-isolate until they get a negative result in a PCR test.
Greece stated that people over 60 must be vaccinated and they are considered to be the most vulnerable to COVID-19.
Australia on Monday postponed the reopening of its international borders by two weeks, less than 36 hours before allowing foreign students and skilled migrants to return.
The situation for COVID cases is mixed.
In Germany, this is the current hot spot for the previous major variant of Delta. After new restrictions were adopted to slow the spread, the average infection rate in 7 days dropped slightly for the first time in three weeks.
France recorded the highest daily number of infections since April. The Dutch health authorities said that Omicron has spread in the Netherlands, where intensive care beds have been used up, and measures including restrictions on reception have not yet taken effect.
Restrictions on travelers from Southern Africa highlight the inequality of vaccine distribution, which may give the virus more opportunities for mutation.
