‘Vaccine inequity prolonging pandemic’
South Africa study suggests lower risk of hospitalisation with Omicron versus Delta; Israel offers a second booster shot
GENEVA/JERUSALEM: The World Health Organization chief warned on Wednesday that the rush in wealthy countries to roll out additional Covid vaccine doses was deepening the inequity in access to jabs that is prolonging the pandemic.
The UN health agency has long warned that the glaring inequity in access to Covid vaccines, which has left many vulnerable people in poorer nations without a single jab as richer countries roll out broad booster programmes.
“Blanket booster programmes are likely to prolong the Covid-19 pandemic, rather than ending it, by diverting supply to countries that already have high levels of vaccination coverage, giving the virus more opportunity to spread and mutate,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
His comments came as the Omicron variant’s lightning dash around the globe since it was first detected in South Africa last month has dampened hopes the worst of the pandemic is over.
The new variant is spreading at unprecedented speed and has already been detected in 106 countries, the WHO said.
Early data indicating that the heavily-mutated variant is not only more transmissible than previous strains, but could be better at dodging some vaccine protections, although additional doses appear to push protection levels higher. But Tedros said on Wednesday that the existing vaccines continue to provide significant protection against severe disease from Omicron.
“It’s important to remember that the vast majority of hospitalisations and deaths are in unvaccinated people, not un-boosted people,” he said.
He also stressed that we all must take all necessary precautions to halt the spread of Covid as we head into the Christmas holiday. “Boosters cannot be seen as a ticket to go ahead with
planned celebrations,” he said.
Israel is to offer a fourth dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to people older than 60 or with compromised immune systems, and to health workers, as part of a drive to ramp up the shots and outpace the spread of the Omicron variant.
A new South African study suggested reduced risk of hospitalisation in people infected with Omicron compared with Delta, although the authors said some of the reduction was likely due to
high population immunity.
The study by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and major universities, which has not been peer-reviewed, compared data about Omicron in October and November with data about Delta between April and November, all in South Africa.
The authors found that the risk of hospital admission was roughly 80% lower for those infected with Omicron compared with Delta, and that for those in hospital the risk of severe disease was roughly 30% lower.
UK reports record cases
British regulators on Wednesday approved a new formulation of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine appropriate for use in children aged five to 11 even as cases driven by the Omicron variant soared.
The country reported a record 106,122 virus cases in 24 hours on Wednesday, the first time the daily figure has topped 100,000.
France said it could soon have around 100,000 new Covid cases a day, up from around 70,000 currently as the country battles a fifth wave of the pandemic.
US authorises Pfizer pill
Pfizer said on Wednesday the US Food and Drug Administration authorised its antiviral Covid-19 pill, making it the first at-home treatment for the coronavirus that is expected to become an important tool in the fight against the fast spreading Omicron variant. Data from Pfizer’s clinical trial showed its two-drug antiviral regimen was 90% effective in preventing hospitalisations and deaths in patients at high risk of severe illness.
No country can boost its way out of the pandemic.
TEDROS A GHEBREYESUS, WHO Director-General
We should all be concerned about Omicron but not panicked... We’re prepared, we know more.
JOE BIDEN, US President
Despite these rising cases, hospitals and health systems remain in a strong position...We are not going back to lockdowns.
SCOTT MORRISON, Australian Prime Minister