(Boursier.com) – The World Health Organization has warned, on the rise in global infections with Omicron, that new coronavirus variants could emerge during the pandemic, which would render current vaccines useless. “It is possible that new variants will escape our countermeasures and become completely resistant to current vaccines or past infections, requiring vaccine adaptations,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Reactionary political movements have fostered vaccine inequity and “created the ideal conditions for the emergence of new variants,” he said, quoted in particular by CNBC.
The WHO leader is therefore sounding the alarm as Covid cases have reached record levels in many countries, including the United States. He reiterated his frequent calls for nations to work together to improve global supplies and access to Covid vaccines and other essential health equipment. He also criticized the “populism” and “short-term nationalism” of some political leaders who he said have “undermined fairness and created the ideal conditions for the emergence of new variants”.
“Bad information and misinformation, often spread by a small number of people, has been a constant distraction that undermines science and confidence in vital health tools,” said the WHO leader. He noted that “in the huge waves of cases now seen in Europe and in many countries around the world, the misinformation that has led to vaccine reluctance is now translating into disproportionate deaths of the unvaccinated.”
Covid vaccines such as that from Pfizer and BioNTech are still effective in preventing serious illnesses caused by Omicron, experts say, but are much less effective in preventing infection. Booster shots, on the other hand, greatly increase protection against symptomatic illnesses.
If a vaccine-resistant strain of the virus emerges, manufacturers will have to adjust their shots, which “could potentially mean another shortage of supplies,” the WHO boss warned yesterday. It is important for countries to strengthen their local vaccine supply before this happens, he said.
“This virus will continue to evolve and threaten our health system if we do not improve the collective response,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “I am very concerned that Omicron, being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as the Delta, leads to a tsunami of cases“.
The vaccine supply is improving now, he said, while reiterating his criticism that recall programs in rich countries make it more difficult for poor countries to obtain vaccines. This growing inequity could prolong the pandemic. Despite the persistent threat to public health and the possibility of future challenges, however, he indicates his optimism that the acute phase of the pandemic may end in 2022 …