Covid: Omicron spreading at unprecedented rate, WHO says

BBC

December 15th, 2021

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Covid: Omicron spreading at unprecedented rate, WHO says

AFP -The Omicron variant was first identified by South Africa

The new coronavirus variant Omicron is spreading across the globe at an unprecedented rate, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned

Cases of the heavily mutated variant have been confirmed in 77 countries.

But at a press conference, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was probably in many others that had yet to detect it.

Dr Tedros said he was concerned that not enough was being done to tackle the variant.

"Surely, we have learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril. Even if Omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems," he said.

The Omicron variant was first identified in South Africa in November, and the country has since seen a surge in infections. President Cyril Ramaphosa has tested positive for Covid-19, and is currently isolating with mild symptoms.

A number of countries have introduced travel bans affecting South Africa and its neighbours following the emergence of Omicron, but this has failed to stop it from spreading around the world.

In other developments

More than 800,000 Americans have now died from the coronavirus - the highest recorded national death toll from the global pandemic
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson won backing for Covid passes in England, despite the biggest revolt by members of his party since he became PM
The UK government also announced on Tuesday that all 11 countries on its travel red list would be taken off, with Health Secretary Sajid Javid saying the Omicron variant had spread so widely the rules no longer had much purpose.
Italy has extended a state of emergency until 31 March 2022, citing concerns over Omicron. The measures, which were due to expire at the end of December, give the government more power to limit travel and public gatherings
The Netherlands says it will close primary schools a week before the Christmas holidays are due to start, in a pre-emptive bid to tackle infections
Norway has also announced a ban on serving alcohol in bars and restaurants, among other measures

In the press conference on Tuesday, Dr Tedros reiterated concerns about vaccine inequity, as some countries accelerate rollouts of a booster shot in response to Omicron.

Recent studies of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine showed it produced far fewer neutralising antibodies against Omicron than against the original strain, but that this deficit could be reversed by a third, booster, jab.

Dr Tedros said boosters "could play an important role" in curbing the spread of Covid-19, but that it was "a question of prioritisation".

"The order matters. Giving boosters to groups at low risk of severe disease or death simply endangers the lives of those at high risk who are still waiting for their primary doses because of supply constraints," he said.

Supplies to the global vaccine-sharing programme Covax have increased in recent months. But world health officials fear a repeat of a shortfall of tens of millions of doses which occurred in the middle of this year, partly as a result of India suspending exports during a surge in cases there.

In poorer countries, some vulnerable people are yet to receive a single dose.

Percent of people fully vaccinatedNo data 020406080+ Scroll tableFilter table:


World	46	8,511,726,559
China	80	2,621,190,000
India	37	1,335,465,563
US	60	485,359,746
Brazil	65	320,737,938
Indonesia	37	249,974,816
Japan	78	198,248,857
Mexico	51	137,357,032
Russia	42	136,087,233
Germany	69	135,406,073
Pakistan	25	134,818,017
Vietnam	59	132,873,501
Bangladesh	26	129,238,605
Turkey	60	121,804,033
UK	69	121,616,098
France	71	112,800,038
Iran	58	109,807,742
Italy	73	102,029,307
Thailand	62	97,403,117
Philippines	37	97,237,440
South Korea	81	90,413,574
Spain	81	80,647,211
Argentina	68	71,507,682
Canada	77	63,335,536
Colombia	51	60,630,010
Malaysia	78	54,591,679
Morocco	61	49,316,418
Saudi Arabia	65	48,104,477
Egypt	17	46,239,670
Peru	59	45,021,391
Poland	55	44,239,198
Chile	85	42,219,185
Australia	75	40,331,164
Uzbekistan	17	36,064,004
Taiwan	63	33,607,831
Sri Lanka	64	31,054,377
Cambodia	80	29,502,058
Cuba	83	29,006,443
Myanmar	22	28,707,770
South Africa	26	27,090,975
Ukraine	29	26,718,836
Venezuela	34	26,314,390
Ecuador	66	25,840,596
Netherlands	74	24,791,526
United Arab Emirates	90	22,166,754
Belgium	75	19,877,988
Nepal	29	19,157,444
Portugal	89	18,411,867
Kazakhstan	44	17,147,214
Sweden	71	16,584,289
Israel	62	16,337,639
Greece	65	15,645,361
Romania	40	15,407,313
Austria	69	15,271,012
Hungary	61	14,655,778
Czech Republic	61	14,468,552
Dominican Republic	52	13,945,195
Iraq	13	13,174,583
Switzerland	66	12,637,185
Algeria	12	12,293,060
Nigeria	2	11,863,889
Mozambique	14	11,730,770
Tunisia	45	11,012,280
Azerbaijan	45	10,894,080
Guatemala	24	10,586,654
Ethiopia	1	10,429,727
Denmark	77	10,347,965
Angola	10	10,319,552
Rwanda	29	10,268,499
Hong Kong	61	9,663,557
Singapore	87	9,489,264
El Salvador	63	9,395,152
Norway	71	9,117,805
Bolivia	37	9,064,726
Honduras	39	9,030,824
Finland	74	8,928,976
Ireland	77	8,659,409
Kenya	6	8,198,259
Serbia	46	8,075,369
Jordan	37	8,065,101
New Zealand	73	7,897,646
Uganda	3	7,813,170
Turkmenistan	52	7,580,976
Costa Rica	64	7,222,020
Zimbabwe	20	6,956,144
Nicaragua	38	6,942,756
Uruguay	76	6,865,377
Belarus	30	6,677,937
Kuwait	74	6,677,397
Paraguay	38	6,324,638
Oman	54	5,934,585
Laos	42	5,830,021
Tajikistan	27	5,711,036
Panama	56	5,685,382
Afghanistan	9	5,228,706
Qatar	76	5,066,606
Slovakia	43	5,055,765
Ivory Coast	6	4,812,235
Mongolia	65	4,419,007
Croatia	50	4,386,603
Lithuania	67	3,888,676
Lebanon	26	3,825,224
Bulgaria	27	3,506,354
Ghana	3	3,493,688
Sudan	3	3,276,654
Palestinian Territories	27	3,184,868
Bahrain	67	3,055,893
Slovenia	56	2,762,009
Libya	11	2,536,160
Guinea	6	2,502,912
Georgia	26	2,324,131
Latvia	66	2,250,883
Albania	35	2,196,145
Togo	10	2,159,257
Kyrgyzstan	14	2,122,034
Senegal	5	1,928,411
Mauritius	72	1,875,132
Mauritania	15	1,812,604
Tanzania	2	1,699,523
Moldova	24	1,686,020
North Macedonia	38	1,675,793
Kosovo	43	1,644,358
Bosnia and Herzegovina	22	1,553,874
Malawi	3	1,553,347
Estonia	61	1,498,693
Botswana	22	1,483,181
Syria	4	1,422,377
Cyprus	66	1,413,274
Trinidad and Tobago	47	1,353,722
Armenia	17	1,352,805
Zambia	4	1,264,656
Fiji	66	1,257,375
Jamaica	18	1,164,194
Bhutan	72	1,154,093
Somalia	4	1,147,627
Benin	7	1,144,390
Timor-Leste	36	1,142,003
Malta	84	993,372
Luxembourg	68	973,411
Cameroon	2	972,360
Niger	2	971,636
Mali	2	963,968
Macau	68	945,950
Sierra Leone	5	923,880
Yemen	1	786,027
Brunei	86	783,549
Maldives	67	781,076
Madagascar	2	742,069
Namibia	12	697,262
Iceland	82	689,243
Guyana	36	687,627
Congo	2	686,096
Burkina Faso	2	661,796
Lesotho	29	635,881
Liberia	11	605,863
Cape Verde	45	550,192
Montenegro	42	543,835
Comoros	28	527,119
Papua New Guinea	2	498,598
Suriname	38	484,487
Equatorial Guinea	14	446,624
Central African Republic	7	436,772
Belize	49	416,878
Guinea-Bissau	1	406,401
Gabon	8	392,898
Eswatini	24	344,255
Barbados	49	294,304
Bahamas	36	288,008
Chad	0.4769	285,922
Gambia	9	273,365
South Sudan	2	263,939
Samoa	61	262,895
DR Congo	0.0832	246,840
Solomon Islands	7	228,912
Jersey	75	194,274
Haiti	0.5795	184,769
Seychelles	79	182,903
Vanuatu	15	147,609
Sao Tome and Principe	22	134,615
Isle of Man	76	133,548
Cayman Islands	85	128,181
Antigua and Barbuda	59	119,809
Tonga	43	119,535
Djibouti	3	108,945
Bermuda	73	106,520
Andorra	65	106,428
Guernsey	21	104,457
Gibraltar	118	103,818
Saint Lucia	26	102,696
Kiribati	19	82,167
Faroe Islands	78	78,347
Greenland	66	78,120
Grenada	31	75,893
St Vincent and the Grenadines	22	57,295
Turks and Caicos Islands	69	56,343
Dominica	38	56,179
Liechtenstein	66	55,894
Saint Kitts and Nevis	47	53,486
Monaco	59	49,980
San Marino	70	48,672
British Virgin Islands	55	34,992
Cook Islands	67	24,326
Anguilla	61	20,284
Nauru	67	14,863
Tuvalu	49	12,114
Saint Helena	58	7,892
Falkland Islands	50	4,407
Burundi	0.0169	4,010
Montserrat	28	2,949
Niue	71	2,352
Tokelau	71	1,936
Pitcairn	100	94
British Indian Ocean Territory	0	0
Eritrea	0	0
North Korea	0	0
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	0	0
Vatican	0	0

This information is regularly updated but may not reflect the latest totals or vaccines administered for each location. Total vaccinations refers to the number of doses given, and may include booster doses in addition to those required for full vaccination. The definition of full vaccination varies by location and vaccine type and is subject to change over time. Full vaccination can refer to one dose of a one-shot vaccine, two doses of a two-dose vaccine, etc., or sometimes recovery from infection plus one dose of a vaccine. Definitions have not yet been updated to account for booster campaigns to control the spread of new variants.

Source:BBC