The United States ordered airlines to hand over the names of passengers from southern African countries hit by the Omicron COVID-19 variant and other countries tightened their borders as a European leader urged people to “prepare for the worst”.
World Health Organization (WHO) officials said 24 countries may have reported cases of the variant so far but that some of the early indications were that most were mild and none severe.
Staving off Omicron while scientists establish how easily it can spread and whether it can evade vaccine protection is a “race against time”, the president of the European Union’s executive Commission said, emphasising the role of vaccines.
Ghana, Nigeria, Norway, Saudi Arabia and South Korea were among the latest countries to report cases of the variant. Britain reported 22 cases so far, a number it said would certainly go up. read more
Japan, which had already barred all new foreign entrants, reported its second case of the new variant and said it would expand travel restrictions.
Such curbs have become more tangled as they have spread.
Hong Kong added Japan, Portugal and Sweden to its travel restrictions, while Uzbekistan said it would suspend flights with Hong Kong as well as South Africa. Malaysia temporarily barred travellers from eight African countries and said Britain and the Netherlands could join the list. read more
“Blanket travel bans will not prevent the international spread and they place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods”, the WHO said, while advising those unwell, at risk or 60 years and over and unvaccinated to postpone travel.
The United States, which has barred nearly all foreign nationals who have been in one of eight southern African countries, issued a directive requiring airlines to disclose names and other information of passengers who have been there.
The directive, issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took effect late Tuesday, according to documents seen by Reuters. read more
Global shares came off lows plumbed on Tuesday after remarks by the CEO of Moderna (MRNA.O) raised questions about the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines against Omicron.
The WHO’s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said the organization thought COVID-19 vaccines would still protect against severe disease.
Kate Bingham, the former head of the UK’s COVID-19 Vaccine Taskforce who secured millions of doses for the country, said scientists should know within a week whether existing shots are effective against the Omicron variant. read more
BioNTech’s CEO said the vaccine it makes in a partnership with Pfizer (PFE.N) was likely to offer strong protection against severe disease from Omicron. The European Union brought forward the start of its vaccine rollout for five-to-11-year-old children by a week to Dec 13. read more
Britain and the United States have both expanded their booster programmes in response to the new variant, highlighting the disparity between massive vaccination pushes in rich nations and sparse inoculation in the developing world.
Some 56 countries were reportedly implementing travel measures to guard against Omicron as of Nov. 28, the WHO said.
