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The new “Omicron” strain of the #Corona virus is now present on all continents, and the suspension of travel between countries will not stop its spread around the world, according to what the World Health Organization has warned, advising people at risk of severe illness or death if they catch the infection, including those above 60 years, not to travel to areas experiencing community transmission of the virus.
And on Tuesday evening, the arrival of "Omicron" in Latin America was confirmed, with Brazil announcing the registration of two cases of the new strain, while Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, recorded the first two cases of "Omicron".
While the World Health Organization considers the possibility of "Omicron" spreading in the world "high", acknowledging that much of information is still unknown, such as the severity of the infection, the effectiveness of existing vaccines against it, and the severity of symptoms, no deaths associated with the new strain have been reported so far.
At a time that the world is wondering about the response of the vaccines currently available to this mutated variant, "Moderna" President Stefan Bansel expected that there would be a "substantial decrease" in the effectiveness of vaccines against the recent variant, noting that developing of an effective vaccine would take months.
But several laboratories, including "Moderna", "AstraZeneca", "Pfizer-Biontech" and "Novavax",have expressed confidence in the ability of their vaccines to protect against "Omicron". For its part, Russia announced that it is developing a version of the “Sputnik V” vaccine that specifically targets the new strain, if the existing vaccine is not effective, “which is unlikely.”
With the spread of the new mutant, several countries have tightened their preventive restrictions to combat the new strain, including suspending travel to a number of countries and imposing mandatory wearing of masks, calling in the first place for people to receive the vaccine and booster doses.