Guterres, in a statement on Monday said, people of Africa should not be blamed for the immorally low level of vaccinations available in the continent.

He said they should not be penalised for identifying and sharing crucial science and health information with the world on Omicron COVID-19 variant.

The World Health Organisation, WHO, has listed Omicron as a “variant of concern” as a result of which countries around the world are now restricting travel from Southern Africa, where the new strain was first detected, and taking other new precautions.

WHO says it could take several weeks to know if there are significant changes in transmissibility, severity or implications for COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments.

On Friday, Canada banned travel from seven African countries over concerns about the spread of the Omicron strain, and Nigeria was not one of them.

The secretary-general commended the government and scientists and health community of South Africa for acting early to identify the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant.

Guterres said he and others had long warned, low vaccine rates was a breeding ground for variants.

The secretary-general appealed to all governments to consider repeated testing for travellers together with other appropriate and truly effective measures.

He said that should be with the objective of avoiding the risk of transmission so as to allow for travel and economic engagement.

Source: NAN

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The omicron variant – believed to be more contagious than previous variants of the disease – was first discovered in South Africa and has since been detected in Belgium, Botswana, Israel, and Hong Kong.

It could take weeks for scientists to fully understand the variant’s mutations and whether existing vaccines and treatments are effective against it.

Omicron is the fifth variant of concern designated by the World Health Organisation.

Although epidemiologists say travel curbs may be too late to stop Omicron from circulating globally, a string of countries including the United States, Brazil, Canada, and European Union nations announced travel bans or restrictions from southern Africa on Friday.

On Saturday, Australia said it would ban non-citizens who have been in nine southern African countries from entering and will require supervised 14-day quarantines for Australian citizens and their dependents returning from there.

Japan said it would extend its tightened border controls to three more African countries after imposing curbs on travel from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Lesotho on Friday.

Sri Lanka, Thailand and Oman also announced travel curbs on southern African nations.

In Britain, the main opposition Labour Party called on Saturday for a faster booster vaccination programme, saying the gap between the second dose of a vaccination and the booster jab should be cut from six to five months.

“This new variant is a wake-up call,” said Labou’s junior health spokesman Alex Norris.

“The pandemic is not over. We need to urgently bolster our defenses to keep the virus at bay,” Norris added.

Source: Reuters/NAN

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