Governments And Markets React To Variant Found in South Africa
November 26, 2021–The World Health Organization identified a new variant, called Omicron, as a cause for concern on Friday and established a technical advisory group to study it. It comes as much of the world tries to recover from economic recessions due to the global pandemic.
“This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning. Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other VOCs,” said the WHO release.
Financial markets reacted worldwide as governments instituted travel bans and braced for the potential for infection rates to rise.
The scientific name is SARS-CoV-2 variant: B.1.1.529. Since scientists first discovered it on November 9, infection rates appear to be “increasing in almost all provinces in South Africa.”
Vaccine Distributions
In that South Africa, nearly 24 percent of the population have been fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data. The South African government has approved the following vaccines for use in its country:
- Johnson & Johnson
- Pfizer
- Sinovac
- AstraZeneca.
Of the 16.8 million vaccine doses administered, the WHO’s Covax shots account for about 7 million. Furthermore, about 9.8 doses came from bilateral assistance, according to WHO statistics.
President Joe Biden urged national leaders to waive intellectual property protections for COVID vaccines.
“For the world community: the news about this new variant should make clearer than ever why this pandemic will not end until we have global vaccinations,” Biden said today. “The United States has already donated more vaccines to other countries than every other country combined. It is time for other countries to match America’s speed and generosity.”
Britain, the United States, and the European Commission announced travel restrictions to and from South Africa and neighboring countries.
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