There is global concern and widespread alarm over the discovery of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.529, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has called Omicron.
The WHO classifies Omicron as an “anxiety type” because it has a wide range of mutations. This suggests that vaccines and treatments may be less effective.
Although early on, Omicron appears to be able to re-infect people more easily than other strains.
Australia has followed other countries and territories – including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union – and banned travelers from nine southern African countries.
Australians wishing to return home from South Africa will still be able to do so. But they will have to enter hotel quarantine and be tested, as have returnees from nine designated countries – South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Seychelles, Malawi and Mozambique – in the past 14 days.
But Omicron has already been detected in other regions, including the UK, Germany, Israel, Hong Kong and Belgium. So while travel restrictions in southern African countries may slow the spread and buy a limited amount of time, it is unlikely to stop.
As the Australian government and others act to protect their own citizens, it should also have additional resources to support countries in southern Africa and elsewhere taking quick action.
When was Omicron discovered? The variant was identified in South Africa on 22 November from a sample taken from a patient on 9 November.
South African virologists took prompt action, hailed from colleagues in South Africa through the Genomic Surveillance Network, liaised with the government, and notified the World Health Organization on 24 November.
This is in keeping with international health regulations that guide how countries should respond.
The behavior of this new version is still unclear. Some have claimed that the growth rate of Omicron infections, indicating its transmittance, may be even higher than that of the delta version. This “growth advantage” has yet to be proven, but is worrying.
The ‘Nijkerk’ response versus the WHO recommendations has come as a disappointment to African scientists and politicians in the form of a “knee-jerk” reaction from countries imposing travel restrictions.
They argue that the ban would have significant negative effects for the South African economy, which traditionally welcomes global tourists during the late summer period.
They note that it is still unclear whether the new variant originated in South Africa, even though it was first identified there.
As Omicron has already been detected in many other countries, it may already be circulating in areas not covered by the travel ban.
Travel restrictions on countries detecting new forms, and the subsequent economic costs, may act as a deterrent for countries to reveal forms of concern in the future.
The WHO does not generally recommend a flight ban or other forms of travel ban. Instead, it argues that interventions of proven value should be prioritized: vaccination, hand hygiene, physical distancing, well-fitted masks and good ventilation.
In response to the various forms of concern, WHO calls on all countries to increase surveillance and sequencing, report early cases or clusters, and conduct investigations to improve understanding of diversity’s behaviour.
Omicron should be taken seriously. Its characteristics are worrisome, but there are large gaps in our current knowledge. While further analyzes are carried out, the variant should be controlled with testing, tracing, isolation, implementation of known public health measures and ongoing surveillance.
What can rich countries help? Wealthy countries such as Australia should support African countries and others in sharing early alerts of potentially serious communicable disease threats and helping reduce these threats.
The panel recommended creating incentives to reward early response action. This may include support for: –
1. Establish research and educational partnerships.
2. Strengthening health systems and communicable disease surveillance.
3. Significantly improve vaccine availability, distribution and equity.
4. Consider financial compensation through some sort of solidarity fund against the risk of a pandemic.
While it is important to promote vaccine coverage, vaccines are the mainstay of protection against the most severe effects of COVID-19.
It is not clear how effective the vaccines will be against Omicron, but some degree of protection is likely. Pfizer has also indicated that it may develop an effective vaccine against a newer variant, such as Omicron, within 100 days.
The persistence of COVID is partly attributable to weak vaccination coverage in many parts of the world, especially the least developed. South Africa itself is better off than most countries on the continent, yet currently only 24 percent of the adult population is fully vaccinated. For Africa as a whole, this has come down to just 7.2 percent.
There is an urgent need for more global support to boost these vaccination rates.
African institutions and leaders, backed by global health and vaccine experts, have argued for mRNA vaccine manufacturing facilities on the African continent. These will prioritize regional populations, address supply-chain problems and respond in real time to emerging disease threats.
Yet developing countries face significant barriers to obtaining intellectual property around COVID-19 vaccine development and production.
While much remains to be learned about Omicron’s behavior and impact, the global community must demonstrate genuine support and commit to countries doing the right thing by sharing information promptly and transparently.
,