Passengers flying to the United States (US) will face stricter covid-19 testing rules, and other countries tighten border controls amid uncertainty about the Ômicron variant of the coronavirus and its ability to circumvent vaccine protection .
Japan and Hong Kong have said they will tighten travel restrictions, and Malaysia has temporarily banned travelers from countries considered at risk. Japan, which had already suspended the entry of all foreigners, reported its second case of the new variant on Wednesday (1).
Other countries are bracing for more cases: Australia said at least two people already likely infected visited Sydney sites, and Denmark said one infected person attended a major concert.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that “widespread travel restrictions will not impede international spread and impose a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods”, but also advised indisposed, at-risk people aged 60 and over and who do not vaccinated themselves to postpone travel.
Investors remained tense today, despite the fact that financial markets reacted to the previous day’s sharp drops, which occurred in the wake of comments from the CEO of Moderna, who expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the covid-19 vaccines in combating Ômicron.
Since then, global health officials have offered reassurances and reiterated calls for people to get vaccinated.
“Our best form of defense remains our vaccines,” British Health Secretary Sajid Javid told the channel Sky News.
“It’s possible, of course, it’s possible they’re less effective. We just don’t know for sure yet. But it is also very likely that they will remain effective against serious diseases”, he said.
Emer Cooke, executive director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), said that over the next two weeks laboratory tests will indicate whether the blood of vaccinated people has enough antibodies to neutralize the new strain.
The European Union anticipated the start of its vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 years in a week, rescheduling for December 13th.
BioNTech’s CEO said the vaccine the company partners with Pfizer will likely provide strong protection against serious Ômicron-related illnesses.
Both the UK and the US have expanded their booster dose programs in response to the new variant.
First reported in southern Africa a week ago, Ômicron highlights the disparity between large vaccination initiatives in rich countries and sparse inoculation in the developing world.
* Additional reporting by Sakura Murakami, Reju Jose and Jamie Freed
By David Shepardson and Elaine Lies* – Reuters Reporters – Washington and Tokyo
Passengers flying to the United States (US) will face stricter covid-19 testing rules, and other countries tighten border controls amid uncertainty about the Ômicron variant of the coronavirus and its ability to circumvent vaccine protection .
Japan and Hong Kong have said they will tighten travel restrictions, and Malaysia has temporarily banned travelers from countries considered at risk. Japan, which had already suspended the entry of all foreigners, reported its second case of the new variant on Wednesday (1).
Other countries are bracing for more cases: Australia said at least two people already likely infected visited Sydney sites, and Denmark said one infected person attended a major concert.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that “widespread travel restrictions will not impede international spread and impose a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods”, but also advised indisposed, at-risk people aged 60 and over and who do not vaccinated themselves to postpone travel.
Investors remained tense today, despite the fact that financial markets reacted to the previous day’s sharp drops, which occurred in the wake of comments from the CEO of Moderna, who expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the covid-19 vaccines in combating Ômicron.
Since then, global health officials have offered reassurances and reiterated calls for people to get vaccinated.
“Our best form of defense remains our vaccines,” British Health Secretary Sajid Javid told the channel Sky News.
“It’s possible, of course, it’s possible they’re less effective. We just don’t know for sure yet. But it is also very likely that they will remain effective against serious diseases”, he said.
Emer Cooke, executive director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), said that over the next two weeks laboratory tests will indicate whether the blood of vaccinated people has enough antibodies to neutralize the new strain.
The European Union anticipated the start of its vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 years in a week, rescheduling for December 13th.
BioNTech’s CEO said the vaccine the company partners with Pfizer will likely provide strong protection against serious Ômicron-related illnesses.
Both the UK and the US have expanded their booster dose programs in response to the new variant.
First reported in southern Africa a week ago, Ômicron highlights the disparity between large vaccination initiatives in rich countries and sparse inoculation in the developing world.
* Additional reporting by Sakura Murakami, Reju Jose and Jamie Freed
By David Shepardson and Elaine Lies* – Reuters Reporters – Washington and Tokyo
