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Practically two years on for the reason that begin of the pandemic that has claimed greater than 5 million lives all over the world, international locations are on excessive alert. Many international locations have already imposed journey restrictions on flights from southern Africa as they search to purchase time to evaluate whether or not the omicron variant is extra transmissable than the present dominant Delta variant.
In an try to sluggish the unfold within the UK, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson mentioned it was essential to take “focused and precautionary measures” after two individuals examined constructive for the brand new variant in England.
“Proper now that is the accountable plan of action to decelerate the seeding and the unfold of this new variant and to maximise our defences,” he instructed a information convention.
Among the many measures introduced, Mr Johnson mentioned anybody arriving in England shall be requested to take a a compulsory PCR take a look at for COVID-19 on the second day after their arrival and should self isolate till they supply a damaging take a look at. And if somebody checks constructive for the Omicron variant, then he mentioned their shut contacts must self-isolate for 10 days no matter their vaccination standing — at the moment shut contacts are exempt from quarantine guidelines if they’re fully-vaccinated.
He additionally mentioned mask-wearing in outlets and on public transport shall be required and mentioned the impartial group of scientists that advises the British authorities on the rollout of coronavirus vaccines has been requested to speed up the vaccination program. This might contain widening the booster program to youthful age teams, lowering the time interval between a second dose and a booster and permitting older kids to get a second dose.
“From right this moment we’ll enhance the booster marketing campaign,” Mr Johnson mentioned.
Earlier UK Well being Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed that two individuals examined constructive with the Omicron variant within the southeastern English city of Chelmsford and within the central metropolis of Nottingham. He mentioned the circumstances had been linked and associated to journey from southern Africa.
Mr Javid mentioned the 2 confirmed circumstances are self-isolating alongside their households whereas contact tracing and focused testing takes place.
He additionally mentioned arrivals from Angola, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia must quarantine from Sunday and burdened the significance of booster jabs.
“It is a actual reminder that this pandemic is much from over,” he mentioned. “If we have to take additional motion, we’ll.”
Pharmaceutical firms expressed optimism that they might finesse their vaccines to take care of the brand new variant although that may clearly take a while.
Germany additionally mentioned it suspected a constructive case and Dutch authorities had been testing whether or not 61 individuals who arrived on two flights from South Africa with COVID-19 have the Omicron variant.
The planes arrived within the Netherlands from Johannesburg and Cape City shortly after the Dutch authorities imposed a ban on flights from southern African nations.
The 539 travellers who examined damaging had been allowed to return house or proceed their journeys to different international locations. Underneath authorities rules, those that reside within the Netherlands and are allowed to return house should self-isolate for at the very least 5 days.
In the meantime, a German official mentioned that there is a “very excessive chance” that the Omicron variant has already arrived within the nation.
Kai Klose, the well being minister for Hesse state, which incorporates Frankfurt, mentioned in a tweet that “a number of mutations typical of Omicron” had been discovered Friday evening in a traveller getting back from South Africa, who was remoted at house. Sequencing of the take a look at had but to be accomplished.
Meaning individuals who contracted COVID-19 and recovered may very well be topic to catching it once more. It may take weeks to know if present vaccines are much less efficient in opposition to it.
With a lot uncertainty concerning the Omicron variant and scientists unlikely to flesh out their findings for just a few weeks, international locations all over the world have been taking a safety-first strategy, within the data that earlier outbreaks of the pandemic have been partly fuelled by lax border insurance policies.
Practically two years on for the reason that begin of the pandemic that has claimed greater than 5 million lives all over the world, international locations are on excessive alert.
The variant’s swift unfold amongst younger individuals in South Africa has alarmed well being professionals regardless that there was no speedy indication whether or not the variant causes extra extreme illness. In simply two weeks, omicron has turned a interval of low transmission within the nation into one in every of speedy development.
Quite a lot of pharmaceutical companies, together with AstraZeneca, Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer, mentioned they’ve plans in place to adapt their vaccines in mild of the emergence of omicron. Pfizer and its companion BioNTech mentioned they count on to have the ability to tweak their vaccine in round 100 days.
Professor Andrew Pollard, the director of the Oxford Vaccine Group which developed the AstraZeneca vaccine, expressed cautious optimism that current vaccines may very well be efficient at stopping severe illness from the Omicron variant.
He mentioned many of the mutations seem like in related areas as these in different variants.
“That tells you that regardless of these mutations current in different variants the vaccines have continued to stop severe illness as we have moved by Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta,” he instructed BBC radio.
“At the very least from a speculative viewpoint we’ve some optimism that the vaccine ought to nonetheless work in opposition to a brand new variant for severe illness however actually we have to wait a number of weeks to have that confirmed.”
He added that it’s “extraordinarily unlikely {that a} reboot of a pandemic in a vaccinated inhabitants like we noticed final yr goes to occur.”
Some consultants mentioned the variant’s emergence illustrated how wealthy international locations’ hoarding of vaccines threatens to delay the pandemic.
Fewer than 6 per cent of individuals in Africa have been absolutely immunised in opposition to COVID-19, and thousands and thousands of well being employees and weak populations have but to obtain a single dose. These circumstances can pace up unfold of the virus, providing extra alternatives for it to evolve right into a harmful variant.
“One of many key elements to emergence of variants could be low vaccination charges in elements of the world, and the WHO warning that none of us is secure till all of us are secure and ought to be heeded,” mentioned Peter Openshaw, a professor of experimental drugs at Imperial Faculty London.
“International vaccine rollout is significant,” he added.
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