GENEVA: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday, November 26, said it is likely to take weeks to determine how effective current COVID-19 vaccines are against the new COVID-19 variant dubbed Omicron.
Helen Rees, chair of the WHO’s African Regional Immunization Technical Advisory Group, said scientists still do not know enough about the new variant to begin sounding the alarm, and cautioned against jumping to any conclusions.
“The fact that we are able to identify changes quickly is good news. It’s good news for the world. But we must be careful that we don’t then jump to conclusions. We need to understand much more about this,” Rees told Al Jazeera from Johannesburg.
WHO advisory panel on said noted that given the available evidence the new B.1.1529 variant, which was named Omicron after a letter in the Greek alphabet, poses an increased risk of reinfection compared with other highly transmissible strains. Following these discoveries, the variant was labeled a “variant of concern”.
Director General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted on Friday saying that the new COVID-19 virus variant – Omicron has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning.
“This is why we need to speed up our efforts to deliver on #VaccinEquity ASAP and protect the most vulnerable everywhere,” Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s COVID-19 Technical Lead, in a video posted on Twitter said that as the team does more research and study of Omicron, there is a lot we can do to keep ourselves and loved ones safe.
“We understand that people are concerned. The good thing is that we have monitoring systems around the world to detect these variants very quickly. This variant was detected a few weeks ago and already, scientists are sharing research with us, so that we can take action,” Van Kerkhove said in the video. She added that what is really important as an individual, is to lower your exposure and follow health guidelines by wearing a mask, regularly washing hands and making sure that you avoid crowded spaces, and when it’s your turn, get vaccinated.
Omicron was first found in South Africa and has since been detected in Belgium, Israel, Botswana and Hong Kong.
The European Union and the United Kingdom have imposed restrictions on travelers from several countries in southern Africa and the United States announced that similar restrictions would begin on Monday.