November 29 Omicron Covid-19 variant news

India says it “stands ready” to support countries in Africa affected by the Omicron variant, including providing vaccines and medical supplies.

In a statement Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it was offering support to countries experiencing Omicron outbreaks by providing drugs, test kits, gloves, PPE kits and medical equipment such as ventilators.

The ministry also encouraged African nations to order India's Covid-19 vaccines through COVAX, the World Health Organization’s global vaccine sharing program, or bilaterally.

"We express our solidarity with the countries, particularly in Africa, who have so far been affected by the Omicron variant," the MEA said. 

The MEA said the government has approved all orders placed so far by COVAX for supplies of Covishield, a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca-Oxford and produced by the Serum Institute of India, to African nations such as Malawi, Ethiopia, Zambia, Mozambique, Guinea and Lesotho.

Supplies of the India-made Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin have also been approved for Botswana.

To date, India has supplied more than 25 million doses of its domestically developed vaccines to 41 countries in Africa through donations and COVAX supplies.

The world population needs to be vaccinated urgently to ensure any future coronavirus variants are stopped before they can begin, a special adviser to the director general of the World Health Organization said Monday.

Variants can develop when the virus spreads, making areas with low vaccination rates particularly dangerous. The next variant of concern can be prevented if more of the world is protected, but there is a lot of work to do, Singer said.

The vaccination rate is currently only about 7% in Africa, he said. 

In the meantime, Singer said, people need to be cautious as scientists work out how much of a threat Omicron poses. “I think a prudent approach here is called for and that means raising your guard,” he said.

Singer said that included getting vaccinated, wearing a mask and physical distancing. 

“Those are prudent things that people can do to take in their own hands while the answers are being sorted out,” he said.

Ecuador announced new travel restrictions Monday on arrivals from a number of African countries in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

President Guillermo Lasso said people coming from any country on the banned list would be refused entry to Ecuador, even if they had only stopped over or transited through those countries.

The countries include South Africa, Botswana, Egypt, Mozambique, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Namibia. The measures will go into effect Wednesday.

At the same time, Lasso said Ecuador's border with Colombia would be reopened in phases, starting with the transport of goods.

In order to enter Ecuador, all travelers must present their vaccination certificate and a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours. Children under the age of 16 must present a negative PCR test.

At least 70 countries and territories have now imposed travel restrictions to curb the spread of the new variant.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Monday he's not panicking about the Omicron variant but his company is readying an updated vaccine just in case one is needed.

Bourla said it will take two to three weeks to be able to fully assess how well the Pfizer vaccine works against Omicron. “I doubt that the results will be that we can find ourselves that we are not protecting at all,” Bourla said.

Whether or not the vaccine is as effective against Omicron as it is against the Delta variant, boosters should reduce the threat dramatically, Bourla said.

Pfizer has already started producing a Covid-19 vaccine specifically targeting Omicron, as it has with other variants, Bourla said. “If indeed we need it, we will not waste any time,” he said.

The company had produced a vaccine specifically formulated against the Delta variant and another against the Beta variant, but didn’t need either, because its original vaccine worked well against those strains. If a new vaccine is needed for Omicron, Bourla said it would take 100 days or fewer to get it tested and into production.

“We should be able to transition manufacturing to this new vaccine without losing any single dose, almost any single dose, from the current capacity,” Bourla said.

Everyone around the world must have access to vaccinations, Bourla said.

At least 69 countries and territories have imposed travel restrictions in response to the spreading Omicron variant, according to analysis and data compiled by CNN. 

Here's the list:

*European Union member state

The Omicron variant will likely make it more difficult for countries to bring the Covid-19 pandemic under control, Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University School of Public Health, said Monday.

“What concerns me about this, the variant, is two things. One, is pretty good circumstantial, but good, evidence that it is highly contagious, maybe more contagious than the Delta variant,” Jha told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.

Jha said he was also concerned because many of the mutations seen in Omicron affect the spike protein, which is the part of the virus specifically targeted by vaccines and certain treatments such as monoclonal antibodies.

While vaccine maker Moderna has said it is working on a potential Covid-19 booster that would specifically work against the Omicron variant, Jha said no one should wait for it to get a booster. 

At least 17 countries and territories have confirmed Omicron variant cases, according to analysis and data compiled by CNN.

Spain and Austria both reported their first cases of the Omicron variant in the past 24 hours, while Germany confirmed its first infection with no overseas travel history.

These countries and territories have confirmed Omicron infections:

Travel bans don’t really work to stop the spread of coronavirus variants, CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner said Monday.

Foreign travelers to the United States have to be fully vaccinated and tested and those kinds of measures are effective at reducing the import of viruses, Reiner said.

While dozens of countries, including the US, have restricted travel from some African countries, such restrictions will not stop the spread of the Omicron variant. In fact, Reiner and several other scientists have said that they think Omicron is likely present in the US already.

A 39-year-old man from Leipzig has been diagnosed with the Omicron variant, the first confirmed case in Germany with no travel history, according to health officials.

The infected man had not traveled abroad recently nor had any contact with anyone who had traveled overseas, Leipzig Health Department director Regine Krause-Döring said.

It's the fourth Omicron case to be discovered in Germany. Two previous infections were detected in Munich and a third case was found in the state of Hesse.