admin
The World Health Organisation said Omicron has been detected in 38 countries but there are no reported deaths so far from the new Covid-19 variant.
WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier also said it is “commendable” that makers of Covid-19 vaccines are planning for the “likelihood” of needing to adjust their products to protect against the Omicron variant.
WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan urged people not to panic over the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant and said it was too early to say if Covid-19 vaccines would have to be modified to fight it.
Swaminathan said during an interview at the Reuters Next conference on Friday that the right response was to be prepared and cautious and not to panic in face of the new variant.
“How worried should we be? We need to be prepared and cautious, not panic, because we’re in a different situation to a year ago,” Swaminathan said.
The emergence of the new variant was unwelcome, she said, but added that the world was much better prepared given the development of vaccines since the start of the pandemic.
Key developments:• The new rules to tackle COVID-19 in the United States include stricter testing of inbound travellers and stepping up booster jabs.
• Germany is planning to exclude the unvaccinated from all but essential shops and services and is considering a vaccine mandate from February.
• A United Kingdom study has found mRNA vaccines provide the biggest booster effect.• Roche develops new research test kits for the Omicron variant. – Aljazeera
Online Reporter