November 26 Omicron variant news

Australia is banning the entry of foreign citizens who have traveled to nine southern African countries in the previous 14 days over concerns of the new Covid-19 Omicron variant. 

The nine countries include South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique, Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt said in a news conference on Saturday.

Australian citizens, though allowed into Australia, will have to quarantine for 14 days on arrival, Hunt added. 

No cases of the Omicron variant have yet been identified in Australia, and there are no direct flights from the areas of concern to the country. But some travelers have flown into quarantine-free areas from South Africa over the past two weeks and the Australian government is now chasing them up to conduct Covid tests.

No cases of the new Omicron variant have yet been identified in the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In a statement Friday, the CDC said any cases would be identified quickly through the nation's variant surveillance system.

The agency recommends people follow prevention strategies such as wearing a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high community transmission, washing your hands frequently, and physically distancing from others. 

It also recommends that everyone 5 years and older protect themselves from Covid-19 by getting fully vaccinated, and encourages a booster dose for those who are eligible.  

President Biden has signed the official proclamation restricting travel from southern Africa that will take effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday.

The proclamation will apply to those who have been “physically present” in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe during the “14-day period preceding their entry, or attempted entry into the United States.”

The proclamation includes a list of those exempted from the new restrictions including citizens, lawful permanent residents, and noncitizens who are the spouse of a citizen or permanent resident.

The order will remain in effect until terminated by the President and will not apply to any flights scheduled to arrive in the US that departed prior to 12:01 a.m. ET Monday.

Brazil said it will close its air borders with six African countries from Nov. 29 in response to the Omicron variant, according to the presidential chief of staff Ciro Nogueira.

Nogueira tweeted that passengers arriving from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe, will be prevented from entering the country to "protect Brazilians." 

He said the decision was agreed to by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Health Ministry, and the Ministry of Infrastructure.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had previously stated he would not support such border closures. 

When asked about potential flight bans earlier on Friday, Bolsonaro said, "It won't stop, boy, what is this madness? Will the virus not enter if you close the airport? It's (the new strain) already in here. You have to learn to live with the virus." 

United says it will not scale back its Africa service due to the new covid variant — and is moving ahead with new and seasonal service to the continent. 

CNN reported earlier that Delta will continue its service to South Africa, too.

Vaccine maker Johnson and Johnson is testing the effectiveness of its Covid-19 vaccine against the new Omicron coronavirus variant, the company said Friday.

Vaccine maker Moderna says the new Omicron variant represents a "significant potential risk" to the efficacy of its Covid-19 vaccine as well as immunity reached naturally.

"The recently described Omicron variant includes mutations seen in the Delta variant that are believed to increase transmissibility and mutations seen in the Beta and Delta variants that are believed to promote immune escape," Moderna said Friday in a news release.

The company said it is working rapidly to test the ability of its vaccine to neutralize the new variant and data is expected in the coming weeks.

If the current vaccine and the current booster dose of the vaccine are insufficient against the variant, one possible solution is boosting people with a larger dose, which Moderna said it is testing.

The company is also evaluating two multi-valent booster candidates to see if they provide superior protection against Omicron. Both candidates include some of the viral mutations present in the new variant.

Moderna is also evaluating an Omicron-specific booster candidate.

“We have three lines of defense that we are advancing in parallel,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in the release. "The mutations in the Omicron variant are concerning and for several days, we have been moving as fast as possible to execute our strategy to address this variant."

There is a "high to very high" risk that the new Covid variant, named Omicron by the World Health Organization on Friday, will spread in Europe, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said Friday.

More context: The WHO announced Friday that it has designated Omicron, which was identified as coronavirus variant B.1.1.529, as a variant of concern.

Besides South Africa, the newly identified variant has been detected in Botswana, Hong Kong and Belgium.

It appears to be spreading rapidly in parts of South Africa and scientists are concerned that its unusually high number of mutations could make it more transmissible and result in immune evasion.

WHO's Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE), an independent group of experts, met Friday to discuss the variant, a WHO statement said.

The advisers recommended that WHO designate the variant as "of concern," referencing the variant's large number of mutations, the possibility of increased risk of reinfection and other evidence.

The new travel restrictions announced by President Biden today will buy the US federal government more time to investigate the new Omicron variant that has emerged in South Africa, officials say. But not much.

Earlier today, the Biden administration announced it will restrict travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi, starting Monday. The administration stressed it was acting on advice from Dr. Anthony Fauci and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after the World Health Organization labeled the newly discovered strain as a "variant of concern."

Inside the government, it is seen as inevitable that the new variant will appear in the US at some point, but the new restrictions should give federal health agencies and their global counterparts more time to learn about the variant, including the severity of the disease it causes. Officials do not believe, based on current thinking, that the variant is in the US yet. 

Officials acted quickly to implement the new restrictions. While the emergency of the variant had been flagged in the last several weeks, it was only in recent days that they learned how serious it was. 

US officials are expected to speak to scientists in South Africa again potentially on Sunday.