FRANKFURT/BERLIN- The World Health Organization warned countries on Tuesday not to impose blanket travel bans over the new Omicron coronavirus variant as governments and scientists try to determine how much protection current vaccines would offer against the strain.
Financial markets fell sharply after the head of drugmakerModerna said existing COVID-19 vaccines would be less effective against the Omicron variant. MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 1.39 percent a day after broad declines in Europe and Asia.
BioNTech’s chief executive struck a cautiously positive note, saying the vaccine it makes in a partnership with Pfizer would likely offer strong protection against severe disease from Omicron, which was first reported in southern Africa a week ago.
The questions over vaccine effectiveness came as cases of the new variant spread, with the first reported case in Latin America emerging in Brazil. The country’s health regulator, Anvisa, said a traveller arriving in Sao Paulo from South Africa and his wife were both apparently infected.
Canada will extend its ban on travellers from southern Africa to also cover those from Nigeria, Malawi and Egypt, health officials said on Tuesday, for a total of 10 countries.
Canada will require people arriving by air from all nations except the United States to take a COVID-19 test, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday advised Americans against travel to Niger, Papua New Guinea, Poland, and Trinidad and Tobago. The CDC now lists about 80 destinations at its “Level 4: Very High” classification after the White House announced new travel restrictions in response to Omicron.
The World Health Organization (WHO) asked countries to apply “an evidence-informed and risk-based approach” with any travel measures, including possible screening or quarantine of international passengers. Blanket travel bans would not stop the spread of Omicron, it said.
The WHO issued a statement advising a postponement of travel for those who are unwell or at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19, including those 60 years or older who are not vaccinated.
WHO Director-General TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus said he understood the concerns about Omicron.
But he added: “I am equally concerned that several member states are introducing blunt, blanket measures that are not evidence-based or effective on their own, and which will only worsen inequities.”
The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) executive director, Emer Cooke, told the European Parliament that existing vaccines will continue to provide protection.
Andrea Ammon, chair of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), said the cases of Omicron so far confirmed in 10 European Union countries were mild or without symptoms, although in younger age groups.
News of Omicron’s emergence wiped roughly $2 trillion off global stocks on Friday, after it was first identified in southern Africa and announced on Nov. 25.
US markets on Tuesday reacted mainly to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments signaling a possible speed-up in the taper of the Fed’s asset purchase program, but concerns over Omicron’s impact added to jitters, market analysts said. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 652.22 points, or 1.86 percent, to 34,483.72, and the S&P 500 lost 88.27 points, or 1.90 percent, to 4,567. – Reuters
