<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OZHRVXAV5ZJWPGZ4S6IP437SHE-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-413841" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OZHRVXAV5ZJWPGZ4S6IP437SHE-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OZHRVXAV5ZJWPGZ4S6IP437SHE-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OZHRVXAV5ZJWPGZ4S6IP437SHE-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OZHRVXAV5ZJWPGZ4S6IP437SHE-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OZHRVXAV5ZJWPGZ4S6IP437SHE.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Travellers and flight crew members arrive at the international terminal at Sydney Airport, as countries react to the new coronavirus Omicron variant amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Sydney, Australia, November 30, 2021. REUTERS/Loren Elliott</figcaption></figure>



FRANKFURT/BERLIN, Nov 30 (Reuters) &#8211; The World Health Organization warned countries on Tuesday not to impose blanket travel bans over the new Omicron coronavirus variant as governments and scientists try to determine how much protection current vaccines would offer against the strain.



Financial markets fell sharply after the head of drugmaker Moderna said existing COVID-19 vaccines would be less effective against the Omicron variant. MSCI&#8217;s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 1.39% a day after broad declines in Europe and Asia.



BioNTech&#8217;s chief executive struck a cautiously positive note, saying the vaccine it makes in a partnership with Pfizer would likely offer strong protection against severe disease from Omicron, which was first reported in southern Africa a week ago.



The questions over vaccine effectiveness came as cases of the new variant spread, with the first reported case in Latin America emerging in Brazil. The country&#8217;s health regulator, Anvisa, said a traveller arriving in Sao Paulo from South Africa and his wife were both apparently infected.



Canada will extend its ban on travellers from southern Africa to also cover those from Nigeria, Malawi and Egypt, health officials said on Tuesday, for a total of 10 countries. Canada will require people arriving by air from all nations except the United States to take a COVID-19 test, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/world-faces-an-anxious-wait-as-covid-vaccine-makers-prepare-for-omicron-variant/">World faces an anxious wait as Covid vaccine makers prepare for omicron variant</a></h3>



The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday advised Americans against travel to Niger, Papua New Guinea, Poland, and Trinidad and Tobago. The CDC now lists about 80 destinations at its &#8220;Level 4: Very High&#8221; classification after the White House announced new travel restrictions in response to Omicron.



The World Health Organization (WHO) asked countries to apply &#8220;an evidence-informed and risk-based approach&#8221; with any travel measures, including possible screening or quarantine of international passengers. Blanket travel bans would not stop the spread of Omicron, it said.



The WHO issued a statement advising a postponement of travel for those who are unwell or at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19, including those 60 years or older who are not vaccinated.



WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he understood the concerns about Omicron.



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/whos-tedros-warns-against-over-reaction-omicron-2021-11-30">But he added</a>:&#8221;I am equally concerned that several member states are introducing blunt, blanket measures that are not evidence-based or effective on their own, and which will only worsen inequities.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-vaccine-questions">VACCINE QUESTIONS</h2>



The European Medicines Agency&#8217;s (EMA) executive director, Emer Cooke, told the European Parliament that existing vaccines will continue to provide protection.



Andrea Ammon, chair of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), said the cases of Omicron so far confirmed in 10 European Union countries were mild or without symptoms, although in younger age groups.



News of Omicron&#8217;s emergence wiped roughly $2 trillion off global stocks on Friday, after it was first identified in southern Africa and announced on Nov. 25.



U.S. markets on Tuesday reacted mainly to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell&#8217;s comments signalling a possible speed-up in the taper of the Fed&#8217;s asset purchase program, but concerns over Omicron&#8217;s impact added to jitters, market analysts said. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 652.22 points, or 1.86%, to 34,483.72, and the S&amp;P 500 lost 88.27 points, or 1.90%, to 4,567.



&#8220;There is no world, I think, where (the effectiveness) is the same level&#8230;we had with Delta,&#8221; Moderna&#8217;s CEO, Stephane Bancel, told the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/27def1b9-b9c8-47a5-8e06-72e432e0838f">Financial Times</a>.



&#8220;I think it&#8217;s going to be a material drop. I just don&#8217;t know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I&#8217;ve talked to &#8230; are like, &#8216;this is not going to be good&#8217;.&#8221;



Reuters could not reach Moderna for comment.



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/how-fast-does-it-spread-scientists-ask-whether-omicron-can-outrun-delta-2021-11-29">The University of Oxford said there was no evidence that current vaccines would not prevent severe disease from Omicron</a>, but that it was ready to rapidly update its shot, developed with AstraZeneca, if necessary.



The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden suffered two more legal setbacks on vaccine policy on Tuesday. A federal judge blocked a vaccination rule for healthcare workers and applied the ruling nationwide where the mandate was still in effect.



Another federal judge blocked the U.S government from enforcing a vaccination mandate on government contractors in three states.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">LAB TESTS</h2>



Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said its COVID-19 antibody cocktail and other similar antiviral treatments could be less effective against the latest variant.



EMA&#8217;s Cooke said &#8220;cross neutralisation,&#8221; a lab test for whether the approved vaccines are effective against Omicron, would take about two weeks. If there was a need to change COVID-19 vaccines, new ones could be approved within three or four months, she said.



&#8220;Vaccination will likely still keep you out of the hospital,&#8221; said John Wherry, director of the Penn Institute for Immunology in Philadelphia.



Moderna and fellow drugmakers BioNTech and Johnson &amp; Johnson are already working on vaccines that specifically target Omicron. Moderna has also been testing a higher dose of its existing booster.



BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin told Reuters that BioNTech and Pfizer&#8217;s vaccine was likely to offer strong protection against severe disease from the new variant.



Sahin said he expects lab tests to show some loss of protection against mild and moderate disease due to Omicron but the extent of that loss was hard to predict.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BORDER CONTROLS</h2>



Border closures have already cast a shadow over economic recovery, with parts of Europe now seeing a fourth wave of infections as winter sets in.



Japan confirmed its first case of the new variant on Tuesday, in a traveller from Namibia. Australia found that a person with Omicron had visited a busy shopping centre in Sydney while probably infectious.



Australia on Monday delayed the reopening of its international borders by two weeks, less than 36 hours before foreign students and skilled migrants were to be allowed back.



Britain and the United States have both pushed their booster programmes in response to the new variant. London said international arrivals would have to self-isolate until they get a negative result in a PCR test.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/omicron-poses-very-high-global-risk-world-must-prepare-who/">Omicron poses “very high” global risk, world must prepare -WHO</a></h3>



Greece said vaccination would be compulsory for those over 60, the group seen as most vulnerable to COVID-19.



The picture of COVID cases was mixed.



In Germany, a current hotspot of the previous significant variant, Delta, the seven-day average infection rate fell slightly for the first time in three weeks after new restrictions to slow transmission.



France registered its highest daily infection tally since April. And the Dutch health authority said Omicron was already spreading in the Netherlands, where intensive care beds are running out and measures including restrictions on hospitality have yet to take effect.



The curbs on travellers from southern Africa have highlighted the inequality of vaccine distribution, which may have given the virus more opportunities to mutate.



(Reporting by Reuters bureaux worldwide; Writing by Himani Sarkar, Kevin Liffey and Grant McCool; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Mark Heinrich and Leslie Adler)

OZHRVXAV5ZJWPGZ4S6IP437SHE

Officials offer vaccine reassurance; WHO advises against travel bans

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OZHRVXAV5ZJWPGZ4S6IP437SHE-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-413841" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OZHRVXAV5ZJWPGZ4S6IP437SHE-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OZHRVXAV5ZJWPGZ4S6IP437SHE-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OZHRVXAV5ZJWPGZ4S6IP437SHE-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OZHRVXAV5ZJWPGZ4S6IP437SHE-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/OZHRVXAV5ZJWPGZ4S6IP437SHE.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Travellers and flight crew members arrive at the international terminal at Sydney Airport, as countries react to the new coronavirus Omicron variant amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Sydney, Australia, November 30, 2021. REUTERS/Loren Elliott</figcaption></figure>



HONG KONG/SYDNEY, Nov 30 (Reuters) &#8211; Drugmaker Moderna&#8217;s CEO set off fresh alarm bells in financial markets on Tuesday after he warned that COVID-19 vaccines were unlikely to be as effective against the Omicron variant as they have been against the Delta version.



Crude oil futures shed more than a dollar, the Australian currency hit a year low, and Nikkei gave up gains as Stéphane Bancel&#8217;s comments spurred fears that vaccine resistance could lead to more sickness and hospitalisations, prolonging the pandemic.



&#8220;There is no world, I think, where (the effectiveness) is the same level . . . we had with Delta,&#8221; <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/27def1b9-b9c8-47a5-8e06-72e432e0838f">Moderna CEO Bancel told the Financial Times in an interview</a>.



&#8220;I think it&#8217;s going to be a material drop. I just don&#8217;t know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I&#8217;ve talked to . . . are like &#8216;this is not going to be good&#8217;,&#8221; Bancel said.



Moderna did not reply to a Reuters&#8217; request for comment on the interview and on when it expects to have data on the effectiveness of its vaccine against Omicron, which the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/omicron-poses-very-high-global-risk-countries-must-prepare-who-2021-11-29">World Health Organization (WHO) says carries a &#8220;very high&#8221; risk of infection surges</a>.



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL4N2SK37Y">Bancel had earlier said on CNBC</a> that there should be more clarity on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines against Omicron in about two weeks, and that it could take months to begin shipping a vaccine that work against the new variant.



The WHO and scientists have also said it could take days to several weeks to understand the level of severity of the variant and its potential to escape protection against immunity induced by vaccines.



&#8220;Vaccination will likely still keep you out of the hospital,&#8221; said John Wherry, director of the Penn Institute for Immunology in Philadelphia.



The uncertainty about the new variant has triggered global alarm, with border closures casting a shadow over a nascent economic recovery from a two-year pandemic.



News of its emergence wiped roughly $2 trillion off the value of global stocks on Friday, but some calm was restored this week as investors waited for more data on Omicron.



Remarks by President Joe Biden that the United States would not reinstate lockdowns had also helped soothe markets before comments from the Moderna CEO spooked investors.



Biden has called for wider vaccination, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged everyone aged 18 years and older to get a booster shot. Britain too has expanded its COVID-19 booster programme amid Omicron fears.



First reported on Nov. 24 from South Africa, Omicron has since spread to over a dozen countries. Japan, the world&#8217;s third-largest economy, has confirmed its first case.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hong-kong-expands-curbs">HONG KONG EXPANDS CURBS</h2>



Countries around the world have moved quickly to tighten border controls to prevent a recurrence of last year&#8217;s strict lockdowns and steep economic downturns.



Hong Kong has expanded a ban on entry for non-residents from several countries. It said non-residents from Angola, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Zambia would not be allowed to enter as of Nov. 30.



Additionally, it said non-residents who have been to Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Israel and Italy in the past 21 days would not be allowed to enter the city from Dec. 2.



The global financial hub, among the last places pursuing a zero-COVID strategy, has already banned non-residents arriving from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe.



In Australia, five travellers tested positive for Omicron.



Singapore&#8217;s health ministry said two travellers from Johannesburg who tested positive for the variant in Sydney had <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/singapore-says-two-travellers-sydney-with-omicron-transited-changi-2021-11-30">transited through its Changi airport</a>.



Australian authorities have also identified a sixth traveller who was most likely infected with the variant and had spent time in the community.



Canberra delayed on Monday the reopening of the nation&#8217;s borders for international students and skilled migrants, less than 36 hours before they were due to be allowed back in.



&#8220;We&#8217;re doing this out of an abundance of caution but our overwhelming view is that whilst (Omicron) is an emerging variant, it is a manageable variant,&#8221; Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said.



The global curbs on travellers from southern Africa also raised concerns about vaccine inequality.



&#8220;The people of Africa cannot be blamed for the immorally low level of vaccinations available in Africa – and they should not be penalized for identifying and sharing crucial science and health information with the world,&#8221; <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/un-chief-concerned-about-southern-africa-isolation-over-omicron-2021-11-29">U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement</a>.



India, home to the world&#8217;s largest vaccine maker, has approved supplies of COVID-19 vaccines to many African countries and said it stands ready to &#8220;expeditiously&#8221; send more. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/chinas-xi-pledges-10-bln-credit-line-african-financial-institutions-2021-11-29">China too has pledged 1 billion doses to the continent</a>.



(Reporting by Marius Zaharia in Hong Kong, Renju Jose in Sydney, Tom Westbrook in Singapore and Reuters bureaus; Writing by Himani Sarkar; Editing by Shri Navratnam)

Moderna CEO warns COVID-19 shots less effective against Omicron, spooks markets

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/JZM4VESEBNMXDIOKZODQGW2UZU-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-413833" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/JZM4VESEBNMXDIOKZODQGW2UZU-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/JZM4VESEBNMXDIOKZODQGW2UZU-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/JZM4VESEBNMXDIOKZODQGW2UZU-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/JZM4VESEBNMXDIOKZODQGW2UZU-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/JZM4VESEBNMXDIOKZODQGW2UZU.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Tourists have their passports checked at the Jose Marti International Airport amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Havana, Cuba, November 15, 2020. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini</figcaption></figure>



HAVANA, Nov 29 (Reuters) &#8211; Cuba will ratchet up restrictions from Dec. 4 on passengers from certain African countries over concerns about the Omicron coronavirus variant, the country&#8217;s Communist-run government said on Monday.



The World Health Organization said on Monday that the Omicron variant carried a &#8220;very high&#8221; risk of infection surges. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/spread-omicron-variant-forces-nations-rethink-plans-global-travel-2021-11-29">Countries have been imposing fresh travel restrictions </a>in recent days in response to the discovery of the variant.



Travelers arriving from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Malawi, and Mozambique will be allowed to enter Cuba, the country&#8217;s health ministry said, but will be required to comply with multiple precautionary measures, including proof of vaccination, three PCR tests and a seven-day quarantine.



Travelers from other sub-Saharan African nations, as well as Belgium, Israel, Hong Kong, Egypt and Turkey will be required to take two PCR tests, the ministry said.



Concerns over the Omicron variant are flaring in Cuba just two weeks after the Caribbean island nation reopened its borders to international visitors.



Cuba, whose economy depends on tourism, eased entry requirements after inoculating most of its people with a COVID-19 vaccine developed domestically. New infections have dropped off sharply in recent weeks, as have deaths from COVID-19. 



(Reporting by Reuters TV, writing by Dave Sherwood, Editing by Rosalba O&#8217;Brien)

JZM4VESEBNMXDIOKZODQGW2UZU

Cuba tightens restrictions on eight African countries over Omicron concerns

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FP2BLRBE2VO37JDPTT5G2WSIAE-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-413821" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FP2BLRBE2VO37JDPTT5G2WSIAE-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FP2BLRBE2VO37JDPTT5G2WSIAE-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FP2BLRBE2VO37JDPTT5G2WSIAE-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FP2BLRBE2VO37JDPTT5G2WSIAE-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FP2BLRBE2VO37JDPTT5G2WSIAE-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FP2BLRBE2VO37JDPTT5G2WSIAE.jpg 1749w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at a meeting commemorating the 110th anniversary of Xinhai Revolution at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China October 9, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



BEIJING, Nov 29 (Reuters) &#8211; President Xi Jinping on Monday said China would offer another 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to African countries and would encourage Chinese companies to invest no less than $10 billion in Africa over the next three years.



The pledge of additional vaccine doses &#8211; on top of the nearly 200 million that China has already supplied to the continent &#8211; comes as concerns intensify over the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus, known as Omicron, which was first identified in southern Africa.



In a speech given via video link at the opening of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Xi also said a China-Africa cross-border yuan centre would be set up to provide African financial institutions with a credit line of $10 billion, without giving further details.



China&#8217;s total imports from Africa, one of its key sources of crude oil and mineral supply, will reach $300 billion in the next three years, Xi said, adding that the two sides would cooperate in areas such as health, digital innovation, trade promotion and green development. 



(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom, writing by Tom Daly; Editing by Toby Chopra and Ed Osmond)

FILE PHOTO: Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Xi pledges another 1 bln COVID-19 vaccine doses for Africa

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="574" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/KVKOOZE3UZPHFG2YIFMWES4A3A-820x574.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-413813" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/KVKOOZE3UZPHFG2YIFMWES4A3A-820x574.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/KVKOOZE3UZPHFG2YIFMWES4A3A-300x210.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/KVKOOZE3UZPHFG2YIFMWES4A3A-129x90.jpg 129w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/KVKOOZE3UZPHFG2YIFMWES4A3A-768x537.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/KVKOOZE3UZPHFG2YIFMWES4A3A-1536x1075.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/KVKOOZE3UZPHFG2YIFMWES4A3A-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A man stands in front of a monitor showing flight schedules at an arrival hall of Haneda airport&#8217;s international terminal, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Tokyo, Japan, November 29, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon</figcaption></figure>



TOKYO/GENEVA, Nov 29 (Reuters) &#8211; The Omicron variant of coronavirus carries a very high global risk of surges, the WHO warned on Monday, as more countries reported cases, prompting border closures and reviving worries about the economic recovery from a two-year pandemic.



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/how-worried-should-we-be-about-omicron-variant-2021-11-27,">Scientists have said it could take weeks to understand the severity of Omicron</a> which was first identified in southern Africa. Its emergence has caused a strong global reaction, with countries imposing travel curbs and other restrictions, worried that it could spread fast even in vaccinated populations.



Spooked investors wiped roughly $2 trillion off global stocks on Friday. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-pm-kishida-says-foreign-visitors-be-barred-entry-nov-30-2021-11-29">Financial markets were calmer on Monday, even after Japan, the world&#8217;s third-largest economy, said it would close its borders to foreigners</a>.



The World Health Organization advised its 194 member nations that any surge in infections could have &#8220;severe consequences&#8221; but said no deaths linked to the Omicron variant had been reported so far.



WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Omicron&#8217;s emergence showed how &#8220;perilous and precarious&#8221; the situation was and called on health ministers meeting in Geneva to pursue a new accord on pandemics.



A top South African infectious disease expert said Omicron appears to be more transmissible than previous variants, including to people with immunity from vaccination or prior infection. South African cases are likely to top 10,000 a day this week, rocketing up from 2,858 on Sunday and barely 300 a day two weeks ago, Professor Salim Abdool Karim said.



But he added that it was too early to say whether symptoms were more severe, and said existing COVID-19 vaccines are probably effective at stopping Omicron from causing severe illness.



On Sunday, a South African doctor who was one of the first to suspect a new strain said Omicron appeared so far to be producing mild symptoms.



Portugal found 13 cases of the variant at a Lisbon football club. Scotland and Austria also reported their first Omicron cases on Monday.



A number of countries have imposed travel restrictions, including Japan, which described its ban on arrivals by foreigners as precautionary.



&#8220;These are temporary, exceptional measures that we are taking for safety&#8217;s sake, until there is clearer information about the Omicron variant,&#8221; Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.



Health Minister Shigeyuki Goto said tests would determine if a traveller from Namibia was Japan&#8217;s first Omicron case.



In Israel, a ban on arrivals by foreigners took effect overnight.



U.S. President Joe Biden will provide fresh details of the variant and the U.S. response on Monday, the White House said.



Travel agents in Asia said some travellers were starting to consider cancelling or delaying trips, threatening the global tourism industry&#8217;s already fragile recovery.



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/safrica-says-it-is-being-punished-early-covid-variant-detection-2021-11-27">South Africa has denounced restrictions on travel from the region</a>, saying it is being punished for its scientific ability to identify variants early.



Scientist Richard Hatchett said Omicron&#8217;s emergence had fulfilled predictions that transmission of the virus in low-vaccination areas would speed its evolution. Botswana and South Africa have fully vaccinated less than 25% of their populations.



&#8220;The inequity that has characterized the global response has now come home to roost,&#8221; Hatchett, who is CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a foundation that funds vaccine development, told the Geneva meeting.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-vaccination-drive">VACCINATION DRIVE</h2>



With the WHO urging members to speed up vaccinations of high-priority groups, the Philippines launched an ambitious drive to inoculate nine million people against COVID-19 in three days, deploying security forces and thousands of volunteers.



&#8220;Omicron has an unprecedented number of spike mutations, some of which are concerning for their potential impact on the trajectory of the pandemic,&#8221; the WHO said.



Britain, which said it would call an urgent meeting of G7 health ministers on Monday, will unveil new guidance later on giving booster shots to under-40s.



With France also aiming to accelerate its vaccination campaign, President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that he had received a booster shot.



More than 261.17 million people in over 210 countries have been reported to be infected by the coronavirus since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019 and 5,456,515​have died, according to a Reuters tally.



Markets had been expecting governments and central banks around the world to start withdrawing some of the trillions of dollars meant to keep businesses and households afloat during the pandemic. Another coronavirus wave could mean more support.



Battered stocks and oil prices recovered partly from Friday&#8217;s sell-off as markets latched onto hopes that Omicron would prove milder than initially feared.



European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde sought to reassure investors that the euro zone could cope with a resurgence of the pandemic.



&#8220;There is an obvious concern about the economic recovery in 2022, but I believe we have learnt a lot,&#8221; she told Italian broadcaster RAI late on Sunday.



&#8220;We now know our enemy and what measures to take. We are all better equipped to respond to a risk of a fifth wave or the Omicron variant.&#8221;



(Reporting by Reuters bureaus Writing by Himani Sarkar and Catherine Evans Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Peter Graff)

A man stands in front of a monitor showing flight schedules at an arrival hall of Haneda airport’s international terminal, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Tokyo

WHO flags global risk from Omicron, countries tighten curbs

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="495" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FFPCGEKMT5MGFILRA2HIBVLOJQ-820x495.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-413760" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FFPCGEKMT5MGFILRA2HIBVLOJQ-820x495.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FFPCGEKMT5MGFILRA2HIBVLOJQ-300x181.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FFPCGEKMT5MGFILRA2HIBVLOJQ-149x90.jpg 149w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FFPCGEKMT5MGFILRA2HIBVLOJQ-768x464.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FFPCGEKMT5MGFILRA2HIBVLOJQ.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A logo is pictured on the headquarters of the World Health Orgnaization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



GENEVA, Nov 29 (Reuters) &#8211; The Omicron coronavirus variant is likely to spread internationally, posing a &#8220;very high&#8221; global risk of infection surges that could have &#8220;severe consequences&#8221; some areas, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday.



The U.N. agency urged its 194 member states to accelerate vaccination of high-priority groups and, in anticipation of increased case numbers, to &#8220;ensure mitigation plans are in place&#8221; to maintain essential health services.



&#8220;Omicron has an unprecedented number of spike mutations, some of which are concerning for their potential impact on the trajectory of the pandemic,&#8221; the WHO said.



&#8220;The overall global risk related to the new variant&#8230;is assessed as very high.&#8221;



To date, no deaths linked to Omicron had been reported, though further research was needed to assess Omicron&#8217;s potential to escape protection against immunity induced by vaccines and previous infections, it said.



&#8220;Increasing cases, regardless of a change in severity, may pose overwhelming demands on health care systems and may lead to increased morbidity and mortality. The impact on vulnerable populations would be substantial, particularly in countries with low vaccination coverage,&#8221; it said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-south-africa-detects-new-covid-19-variant-implications-not-yet-clear">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/south-africa-detects-new-covid-19-variant-implications-not-yet-clear/">South Africa detects new COVID-19 variant, implications not yet clear</a></h3>



The variant was first reported to WHO on Nov. 24 from South Africa, where infections have risen steeply.



It has since spread around the world, with new cases found in the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia even as more countries imposed travel restrictions to try to seal themselves off. Japan said on Monday it would close its borders to foreigners, joining Israel in taking the toughest measures.



The WHO, in its latest guidance, reiterated that countries should use a &#8220;risk-based approach to adjust international travel measures in a timely manner&#8221;. Further advice would be forthcoming, it said.



&#8220;The presence of multiple mutations of the spike protein in the receptor-binding domain suggests that Omicron may have a high likelihood of immune escape from antibody-mediated protection. However, immune escape potential from cell-mediated immunity is more difficult to predict,&#8221; it said.



&#8220;Overall, there are considerable uncertainties in the magnitude of immune escape potential of Omicron.&#8221;



More data was expected in coming weeks.



&#8220;COVID-19 cases and infections are expected in vaccinated persons, albeit in a small and predictable proportion&#8221;, it added. 



(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Toby Chopra and John Stonestreet)

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Omicron poses “very high” global risk, world must prepare -WHO

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="495" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FFPCGEKMT5MGFILRA2HIBVLOJQ-820x495.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-413760" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FFPCGEKMT5MGFILRA2HIBVLOJQ-820x495.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FFPCGEKMT5MGFILRA2HIBVLOJQ-300x181.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FFPCGEKMT5MGFILRA2HIBVLOJQ-149x90.jpg 149w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FFPCGEKMT5MGFILRA2HIBVLOJQ-768x464.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FFPCGEKMT5MGFILRA2HIBVLOJQ.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A logo is pictured on the headquarters of the World Health Orgnaization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LONDON/GENEVA, Nov 26 (Reuters) &#8211; Global authorities reacted with alarm on Friday to a new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa, with the EU and Britain among those tightening border controls as researchers sought to find out if the mutation was vaccine-resistant.



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-says-new-covid-19-variant-is-most-significant-yet-found-2021-11-26">Hours after Britain banned flights from South Africa and neighbouring countries</a> and asked travellers returning from there to quarantine, the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned against hasty measures.



One South African scientist expert labelled London’s decision a symptom of &#8220;vaccine apartheid&#8221;, though European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU also aimed to halt air travel from the region and several other countries including India, Japan and Israel toughened curbs.



In Washington, top U.S. infectious disease official Anthony Fauci said no decision had been made on a possible U.S. travel ban.



There was no indication that the variant was in the United States, and it was unclear whether it was resistant to current vaccines, he told CNN.



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-meeting-friday-designate-new-variant-b11529-2021-11-26">The WHO said it would take weeks to determine how effective vaccines were against the variant</a>, which was first identified this week, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/global-markets-wrapup-5-2021-11-26">but the news pummelled global stocks and oil</a> amid fears what new bans would do to the global travel industry and already shaky economies across southern Africa.



The variant has a spike protein that is dramatically different to the one in the original coronavirus that vaccines are based on, the UK Health Security Agency said, raising fears about how current vaccines will fare.



&#8220;As scientists have described, (this is) the most significant variant they&#8217;ve encountered to date,&#8221; British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News.



In Geneva the WHO &#8211; whose experts on Friday discussed the risks that the variant, called B.1.1.529, presents &#8211; warned against travel curbs for now.



&#8220;At this point, implementing travel measures is being cautioned against,&#8221; WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told a U.N. briefing. &#8220;The WHO recommends that countries continue to apply a risk-based and scientific approach when implementing (curbs).&#8221;



It would take several weeks to determine the variant&#8217;s transmissibility and the effectiveness of vaccines against it, Lindmeier said, noting that 100 sequences of it had been reported so far.



British health minister Sajid Javid said the sequence of the variant was first uploaded by Hong Kong from someone travelling from South Africa.



&#8220;Further cases have been identified in South Africa and in Botswana, and it is highly likely that it has now spread to other countries,&#8221; Javid told lawmakers.



Israel imposed a travel ban covering most of Africa as Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said a few cases had been reported there.



Israel&#8217;s Ynet news website said that, according to the Health Ministry, one of those individuals had received a third shot, or booster, of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine two months ago. A Health Ministry spokesperson could not confirm the report.



&#8220;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-pm-warns-state-emergency-due-new-coronavirus-variant-2021-11-26">We are currently on the verge of a state of emergency,&#8221;</a> Bennett said in a statement from his office.



&#8220;Our main principle is to act fast, strong and now.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-too-late-for-travel-curbs">TOO LATE FOR TRAVEL CURBS?</h2>



One epidemiologist in Hong Kong said it may be too late to tighten travel curbs.



&#8220;Most likely this virus is already in other places. And so if we shut the door now, it’s going to be probably too late,&#8221; said Ben Cowling of the University of Hong Kong.



South Africa will speak to British authorities to try to get them to reconsider their ban, the foreign ministry in Pretoria said.



Richard Lessells, a South Africa-based infectious disease expert involved in detecting variants, also expressed frustration at travel bans, saying the focus should be on getting more people vaccinated in places that have struggled to access sufficient shots.



&#8220;This is why we talked about the risk of vaccine apartheid. This virus can evolve in the absence of adequate levels of vaccination,&#8221; he told Reuters.



In South Africa, about 35% of adults are fully vaccinated, higher than in most other African nations but around half average levels in developed countries.



European states had already been expanding booster vaccinations and tightening curbs as the continent battles a fourth COVID-19 wave, led by the Delta variant that current vaccines are effective against, with many reporting record daily rises in cases.



Discovery of the new variant comes as Europe and the United States enter winter, with more people gathering indoors in the run-up to Christmas, providing a breeding ground for infection.



Italy imposed an entry ban on people who have visited southern African states in the last 14 days, while France suspended flights from southern Africa and Bahrain and Croatia will ban arrivals from some countries.



India issued an advisory to all states to test and screen international travellers from South Africa and other &#8220;at risk&#8221; countries, while Japan tightened border controls.



The coronavirus has swept the world in the two years since it was first identified in central China, infecting almost 260 million people and killing 5.4 million. 



Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open <a href="https://tmsnrt.rs/2FThSv7">https://tmsnrt.rs/2FThSv7</a> in an external browser. 



Eikon users can click <a href="https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1063154666">https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1063154666</a> for a case tracker.



(Reporting by bureaux across the world; Writing by Nick Macfie and John Stonestreet; Editing by John Stonestreet)

New COVID variant triggers global alarm as WHO urges caution

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="577" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/7L7MVBYAR5MLZPXSWJGN675VL4-820x577.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-413747" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/7L7MVBYAR5MLZPXSWJGN675VL4-820x577.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/7L7MVBYAR5MLZPXSWJGN675VL4-300x211.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/7L7MVBYAR5MLZPXSWJGN675VL4-128x90.jpg 128w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/7L7MVBYAR5MLZPXSWJGN675VL4-768x540.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/7L7MVBYAR5MLZPXSWJGN675VL4.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Passengers wearing protective face masks, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, walk at the Haneda airport, in Tokyo, Japan June 13, 2021. REUTERS/Androniki Christodoulou</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) &#8211; Asian and European countries tightened travel restrictions on Friday after a new and possibly vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant was detected in South Africa, with the EU and India announcing stricter border controls.



Britain banned flights from South Africa and neighbouring countries and asked British travellers returning from there to quarantine, while European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU also aimed to halt air travel from the region.



The variant has a spike protein that is dramatically different to the one in the original coronavirus that COVID-19 vaccines are based on, the UK Health Security Agency said.



The World Health Organization (WHO) is to hold an experts&#8217; meeting in Geneva at 1100 GMT to discuss the variant and the risks it presents.



&#8220;WHO is convening a meeting&#8230; to better understand the timeline for studies that are under way and to determine if this variant should be designated as a variant of interest or variant of concern,&#8221; WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-zero-covid-strategies-are-being-abandoned-after-the-delta-variant-changed-the-game">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/zero-covid-strategies-are-being-abandoned-after-the-delta-variant-changed-the-game/">Zero Covid strategies are being abandoned after the delta variant ‘changed the game’</a></h3>



Nearly 100 sequences of the variant have been reported, and early analysis shows it has &#8220;a large number of mutations&#8221; requiring further study, Lindmeier said.



Scientists are still learning about the variant, first identified at the start of this week, but the news pummelled financial markets, with stocks in Asia on Friday suffering their sharpest drop in three months and oil plunging more than 3%.



The variant, called B.1.1.529, has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong, according to the UK Health Security Agency.



Singapore&#8217;s health ministry said it would also restrict arrivals from South Africa and countries nearby as a precaution.



Italy imposed an entry ban on people who have visited a group of southern African states, including South Africa, in the last 14 days.



Berlin will also declare South Africa a virus variant area after the detection of the new variant there, a health ministry source said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">CHRISTMAS CONCERNS</h2>



European countries had already been expanding booster vaccinations and tightening curbs as the continent battles a fourth wave of the coronavirus, led by the more familiar delta variant, with many reporting record daily rises in cases.



The new wave comes as Europe and the United States enter winter, with more people gathering indoors in the runup to Christmas, providing a perfect breeding ground for the virus.



Germany reported a record of more than 76,000 COVID-19 infections in a day as its air force got ready for the first time in the pandemic to fly severely ill patients to other parts of the country to unburden struggling hospitals.



The coronavirus has swept the world in the two years since it was first identified in central China, infecting almost 260 million people and killing 5.4 million.



Japan also tightened border controls for visitors from South Africa and five other African countries, the Jiji news service reported. Its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/covid-19-has-cost-30-million-african-jobs-african-development-bank-says/">Covid-19 has cost 30 million African jobs, African Development Bank says</a></h3>



After easing some of its travel restrictions earlier this month, India&#8217;s central government issued an advisory to all states to rigorously test and screen international travellers from South Africa and other &#8220;at risk&#8221; countries.



Asian countries have fared better than other regions in containing the pandemic by enforcing strict preventive measures, rigorous testing and strict border controls.



Taiwan said travellers from &#8220;high-risk&#8221; southern African countries will have to go into government-run quarantine facilities for 14 days.



New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the country was well prepared for the new variant. Earlier this week, New Zealand said it would reopen its borders to fully vaccinated international travellers from April 30.



Asked whether those plans would have to be delayed due to the new variant, Ardern said the country had &#8220;a number of inbuilt measures to act as a layer of protection&#8221;.



&#8220;All of our planning around COVID, we have built into it the possibility of variants in the future,&#8221; Ardern said in an interview for the upcoming Reuters Next conference.



(Reporting by Chen Lin in Singapore, Neha Arora in New Delhi, Rocky Swift in Tokyo, Ben Blanchard in Taipei, and Jane Wardell in Sydney; Writing by Miyoung Kim and Nick Macfie; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa, Philippa Fletcher and by John Stonestreet)

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Asian and European countries, alarmed by new COVID variant, tighten curbs

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/IYRFFIUYYVJ5PJY7FOWT2TKKLQ-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-413721" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/IYRFFIUYYVJ5PJY7FOWT2TKKLQ-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/IYRFFIUYYVJ5PJY7FOWT2TKKLQ-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/IYRFFIUYYVJ5PJY7FOWT2TKKLQ-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/IYRFFIUYYVJ5PJY7FOWT2TKKLQ-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/IYRFFIUYYVJ5PJY7FOWT2TKKLQ.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Director General of the Ghana Health Service Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye receives the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine during the vaccination campaign at the Ridge Hospital in Accra, Ghana March 2, 2021. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Nov 25 (Reuters) &#8211; Many African nations are struggling with the logistics of accelerating their COVID-19 inoculation campaigns as deliveries of vaccines to the continent finally pick up, the head of Africa&#8217;s disease control body said on Thursday.



Only 6.6% of Africa&#8217;s population of 1.2 billion is fully vaccinated, John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), told a virtual news conference.



That means Africa is far from reaching the African Union&#8217;s aim of fully vaccinating 70% of people by the end of 2022, he said.



&#8220;What we are seeing now is a lot more vaccines coming in and the uptake is challenged because of the logistics and delivery,&#8221; said Nkengasong. &#8220;It&#8217;s not necessarily about hesitancy, it&#8217;s about moving vaccines from the airport to the arms (of people), it&#8217;s about logistics.&#8221;



Africa&#8217;s slow absorption of the vaccines is also affecting the health sector, where only one in four workers has been fully vaccinated, the World Health Organization&#8217;s Africa office said.



&#8220;Unless our doctors, nurses and other frontline workers get full protection, we risk a blowback in the efforts to curb this disease,&#8221; Matshidiso Moeti, WHO&#8217;s regional director for Africa, told a separate briefing.



Nkengasong said Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon faced particular logistical challenges.



Congo has administered about 168,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, a Reuters tracker showed, enough to have fully vaccinated 0.1% of the population.



In April, authorities reallocated to other African countries most of the 1.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses that <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/congo-lose-13-mln-covid-19-shots-after-delayed-distribution-2021-04-26">Congo had received a month earlier from the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility because they were set to expire</a>.



Across Africa, authorities successfully conduct routine mass vaccination campaigns against diseases such as measles. But <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/cash-strapped-africa-overwhelmed-by-covid-vaccine-challenge-2021-04-21">many struggled earlier in the year when COVID-19 doses arrived</a>, citing shortages of funding, training and cold storage.



Of some 403 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines distributed to 54 African countries, 55% &#8212; or 221 million &#8212; have been administered.



South Africa has asked Johnson &amp; Johnson (JNJ.N) and Pfizer (PFE.N) to delay delivery of more COVID-19 vaccines because <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/south-africa-delays-covid-vaccine-deliveries-as-inoculations-slow/">it now has too many in stock, Reuters reported on Wednesday</a>.



Namibia warned on Thursday that more than 268,000 doses of AstraZeneca and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines were at risk of being destroyed, some as early as next week, due to slow uptake.



(Reporting by Maggie Fick; Additional reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Gareth Jones and Timothy Heritage)

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Logistical challenges hamper COVID-19 vaccination drives in Africa

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="640" height="420" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/download-19.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-411856" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/download-19.jpg 640w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/download-19-300x197.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/download-19-137x90.jpg 137w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption>Dennis Malattji takes his coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine while a health worker looks on inside the Transvaco COVID-19 vaccine train, as South Africa&#8217;s rail company Transnet turned the train into a COVID-19 vaccination center on rails to help the government speed up its vaccine rollout in the country&#8217;s remote communities, at the Springs train station on the East Rand, South Africa, August 27, 2021. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Nov 24 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa has asked Johnson &amp; Johnson and Pfizer to delay delivery of COVID-19 vaccines because it now has too much stock, health ministry officials said, as vaccine hesitancy slows an inoculation campaign.



About 35% of South Africans are fully vaccinated, higher than in most other African nations, but half the government&#8217;s year-end target. It has averaged 106,000 doses a day in the past 15 days in a nation of 60 million people.



Earlier this year the programme was slowed by insufficient doses. Now deliveries have been delayed due to oversupply, making the country an outlier in the continent where most are still starved of vaccines.



Nicholas Crisp, deputy director-general of the Health Department, told Reuters that South Africa had 16.8 million doses in stock and said deliveries had been deferred.



&#8220;We have 158 days&#8217; stock in the country at current use,&#8221; a spokesman for the Health Ministry said. &#8220;We have deferred some deliveries.&#8221;



They did not say when deliveries would now take place.



Stavros Nicolaou, chief executive of Aspen Pharmacare , which is packaging 25 million doses a month of J&amp;J vaccines in South Africa, said most of the vaccines bound for South Africa would now go to the rest of the continent.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-south-africa-s-vaccine-compensation-fund-could-cost-17-5-mln-in-first-year">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/south-africas-vaccine-compensation-fund-could-cost-17-5-mln-in-first-year-2/">South Africa’s vaccine compensation fund could cost $17.5 mln in first year</a></h3>



Nicolaou, who is also chairman of public health at business lobby Business for South Africa (B4SA), said deliveries would likely be deferred until the first quarter of next year.



Vaccines packaged at Aspen&#8217;s plant are part of the African Union&#8217;s agreement to buy 220 million doses from J&amp;J.



The AU and J&amp;J did not respond to an email seeking comment.



A Pfizer spokesperson said: &#8220;We remain adaptable to individual country&#8217;s vaccine requirements whilst continuing to meet our quarterly commitments as per the South Africa supply agreement.&#8221;



South Africa&#8217;s government has been seeking to boost the rate of daily administered doses.



&#8220;There is a fair amount of apathy and hesitancy,&#8221; said Shabir Madhi, who led the clinical study for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in South Africa.



To ramp up vaccinations, the government has launched pop-up vaccination centres and sought help from community leaders. It has also opened inoculations to children aged 12 to 17. 



(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Josephine Mason and Edmund Blair)

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South Africa delays COVID vaccine deliveries as inoculations slow

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="583" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/XFGRQNWCGBMD7ECT5VCLODOL2U-820x583.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-413191" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/XFGRQNWCGBMD7ECT5VCLODOL2U-820x583.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/XFGRQNWCGBMD7ECT5VCLODOL2U-300x213.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/XFGRQNWCGBMD7ECT5VCLODOL2U-127x90.jpg 127w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/XFGRQNWCGBMD7ECT5VCLODOL2U-768x546.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/XFGRQNWCGBMD7ECT5VCLODOL2U.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A health worker walks past oxygen cylinders outside the infectious diseases department of the Fann University Hospital in Dakar, amid a surge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Senegal, July 28, 2021. Picture taken July 28, 2021.REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra</figcaption></figure>



DAKAR, Nov 3 (Reuters) &#8211; West and Central Africa could see a rise in HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths in a few years due to disruptions in health services because of the coronavirus pandemic, the executive director of the U.N. AIDS agency said.



Although human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection rates, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related deaths have been on a steady decline over the past decade, the region accounted for 22% of AIDS-related deaths in 2020.



Around 200,000 people in West &amp; Central Africa became newly infected with HIV last year out of a global total of 1.5 million, the United Nations AIDS agency&#8217;s (UNAIDS) data shows.



New infections in the region were growing fast among vulnerable groups that include young girls and women, gay men, sex workers, drug users and prisoners, who don&#8217;t always have ready access to preventive measures and treatment.



Winnie Byanyima said the jury was still out on the extent of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on HIV, but the agency is seeing examples of disruptions.



&#8220;We are quite worried that when all the data comes in for this year (2021), that we might see a spike in new infections, and over a few years we might see more deaths,&#8221; Byanyima told Reuters on the sidelines of a health summit late on Tuesday.



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&#8220;We are seeing across countries, a decrease in people receiving prevention, a decrease in people testing, and increasing numbers people falling out of treatments. These are not good signs, but we don&#8217;t yet know what the impact will be on new infections and deaths,&#8221; she said.



Health systems in the region have been stretched by the outbreak, forcing governments to divert scarce resources to tackle the pandemic, while measures to stop the spread, such as lockdowns, curbed access to HIV prevention and treatment.



UNAIDS warned in July last year that the global fight against AIDS had been faltering even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the pandemic was threatening to put hard-won progress against HIV back by 10 years or more.



Byanyima urged other leaders to emulate Senegal&#8217;s President Macky Sall who increased the health ministry&#8217;s funding to fight HIV.



Sall directed Senegal&#8217;s health minister during his closing speech to commit an extra 2 billion CFA francs ($3.5 million) to the ministry&#8217;s 2021/2022 budget to the fight against HIV. 



($1 = 570.5200 CFA francs) 



(Editing by Michael Perry)

XFGRQNWCGBMD7ECT5VCLODOL2U

COVID-19 pandemic could lead to HIV surge in West & Central Africa, says UNAIDS chief

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="545" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IDMYBOBCMBLLNPTRGHTTCKYFHI-820x545.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-411429" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IDMYBOBCMBLLNPTRGHTTCKYFHI-820x545.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IDMYBOBCMBLLNPTRGHTTCKYFHI-300x199.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IDMYBOBCMBLLNPTRGHTTCKYFHI-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IDMYBOBCMBLLNPTRGHTTCKYFHI-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IDMYBOBCMBLLNPTRGHTTCKYFHI.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A woman receives a dose of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, as South Africa rolls out the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination to the elderly at the Munsieville Care for the Aged Centre outside Johannesburg, South Africa May 17, 2021. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Oct 27 (Reuters) &#8211; Only five African countries will meet the target of fully vaccinating 40% of their populations against COVID-19 unless the pace of inoculations accelerates across the continent, World Health Organization said on Thursday.



The COVID-19 vaccine rollout may be slowed by an &#8220;imminent shortfall&#8221; of up to 2.2 billion auto-disposable syringes globally needed to administer the jab and routine immunisations barring an increase in their manufacturing, WHO Africa said. At present there is no global stockpile of the specialised syringes which are in high demand, and they will remain in short supply at least through the first quarter of 2022.



WHO Africa said in a statement that Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa have already experienced delays in receiving syringes.



&#8220;Early next year COVID-19 vaccines will start pouring into Africa, but a scarcity of syringes could paralyse progress. Drastic measures must be taken to boost syringe production, fast,&#8221; said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Africa&#8217;s director.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-who-backed-vaccine-hub-for-africa-to-copy-moderna-covid-19-shot">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/who-backed-vaccine-hub-for-africa-to-copy-moderna-covid-19-shot/">WHO-backed vaccine hub for Africa to copy Moderna COVID-19 shot</a></h3>



So far, the continent has fully vaccinated 77 million people, just 6% of its population.



About 50 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have arrived on the continent this month, almost double September&#8217;s arrivals, WHO Africa said.



&#8220;However, at the current pace, Africa still faces a 275 million shortfall of COVID-19 vaccines against the year-end target of fully vaccinating 40% of its people,&#8221; it said.



As of Thursday, Africa had close 8.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 217,000 deaths, WHO Africa said. 



(Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Mark Porter)

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Only 5 African countries may fully vaccinate 40% of population by year-end – WHO Africa

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="550" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/4X6EWSEKYRJEHMR5ECXIWSMOJU-820x550.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-413046" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/4X6EWSEKYRJEHMR5ECXIWSMOJU-820x550.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/4X6EWSEKYRJEHMR5ECXIWSMOJU-300x201.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/4X6EWSEKYRJEHMR5ECXIWSMOJU-134x90.jpg 134w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/4X6EWSEKYRJEHMR5ECXIWSMOJU-768x515.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/4X6EWSEKYRJEHMR5ECXIWSMOJU.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed Biontech logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic</figcaption></figure>



FRANKFURT, Oct 26 (Reuters) &#8211; BioNTech on Tuesday signed an agreement with the Rwandan government and Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal on the construction of a first mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in Africa starting in mid-2022, to help the continent ease health inequalities compared to other world regions.



BioNTech, which developed the western world&#8217;s most widely used COVID-19 shots with partner Pfizer, will initially build a production line with 50 million doses annual capacity, which could be also used for COVID-19 vaccines, it said in a statement.



However, the partners may decide to make mRNA vaccines against other diseases, such as malaria or tuberculosis, depending on future development progress and medical needs, a company spokesperson said.



This will be branched out into a wider production network making several hundreds of million mRNA vaccine doses per year with the goal to transfer ownership and know-how to partners on the continent, the biotech firm added.



&#8220;Our goal is to develop vaccines in the African Union and to establish sustainable vaccine production capabilities to jointly improve medical care in Africa,&#8221; said BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin.



The project marks a longer-term attempt to avoid a repeat of healthcare inequalities brought to the fore by the coronavirus pandemic.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-biontech-eyes-rwanda-senegal-for-malaria-tuberculosis-vaccine-production">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/biontech-eyes-rwanda-senegal-for-malaria-tuberculosis-vaccine-production/">BioNTech eyes Rwanda, Senegal for malaria, tuberculosis vaccine production</a></h3>



Speaking at a media briefing in the Rwandan capital Kigali, European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, said that the initial site would be built in Rwanda.



The announcements add details to plans &#8211; unveiled by BioNTech in August &#8211; to build malaria and tuberculosis vaccine production sites in Rwanda and Senegal, at the time narrowing its search for African locations.



BioNTech added on Tuesday that Rwanda and Senegal&#8217;s Institut Pasteur de Dakar would build facilities for final production steps and bottling in a process known as fill and finish, in parallel with BioNTechs construction activities.



The German group said it was also talks in with South Africa’s Biovac Institute about expansion of their current manufacturing partnership.



BioNTech and Pfizer in July struck a deal for Biovac to fill and finish over 100 million doses a year of their COVID-19 vaccine for Africa, based on imported active substance.



Also in July, it said it would seek to develop a vaccine for the mosquito-borne illness malaria, eyeing production in Africa. 



(Reporting by Ludwig Burger Editing by Riham Alkousaa and Bernadette Baum)

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BioNTech eyes construction start for African mRNA vaccine factory in mid-2022

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106868516-1618439730880-mod.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-412157" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106868516-1618439730880-mod.jpg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106868516-1618439730880-mod-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/106868516-1618439730880-mod-160x90.jpg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>A healthcare worker fills a syringe with Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the Giorgio Companies site in Blandon, PA where the CATE Mobile Vaccination Unit was onsite to administer Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines to workers Wednesday morning April 14, 2021.
Ben Hasty | MediaNews Group | Reading Eagle via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) &#8211; The African Union (AU) intends to buy up to 110 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna Inc in an arrangement brokered in part by the White House, which will defer delivery of some doses intended for the United States to facilitate the deal, officials told Reuters.



The AU&#8217;s doses will be delivered over the coming months, with 15 million arriving before the end of 2021, 35 million in the first quarter of next year and up to 60 million in the second quarter.



&#8220;This is important as it allows us to increase the number of vaccines available immediately,&#8221; AU coronavirus envoy Strive Masiyiwa said in an email. &#8220;We urge other vaccine producing countries to follow the lead of the (U.S. government) and give us similar access to buy this and other vaccines.&#8221;



Masiyiwa said the Moderna purchase represented the first time the 55-member AU had secured vaccines that were not fully produced in Africa.



The new shipments of vaccine are well below what Africa needs to vaccinate its 1.3 billion people, who have had far less access to the life-saving vaccines than more prosperous parts of the world. Getting access to Moderna vaccines adds diversity to the AU&#8217;s vaccine supply with different storage requirements.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-moderna-plans-african-mrna-vaccine-factory-as-pressure-grows">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/moderna-plans-african-mrna-vaccine-factory-as-pressure-grows/">Moderna plans African mRNA vaccine factory as pressure grows</a></h3>



The Biden administration is deferring delivery of 33 million doses it had bought from Moderna to give the AU its &#8220;spot in line&#8221; to make a purchase, according to Natalie Quillian, the White House&#8217;s deputy coordinator for COVID-19 response.



&#8220;We are grateful to have helped negotiate this encouraging step forward between Moderna and the African Union that will significantly expand access to vaccines on the continent in the near-term,&#8221; Quillian said.



The United States, which has seen more than 700,000 people die from COVID-19, is flush with vaccines. The delayed Moderna deliveries will not have an impact on efforts to provide booster shots to already inoculated Americans, Quillian said.



Moderna said it was working to make it possible to fill doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in Africa by 2023 and has plans to build a manufacturing plant on the continent.



&#8220;This is the first step in our long-term partnership with the African Union,&#8221; Moderna Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel said in a statement, referring to a Memorandum of Understanding to make up to 110 million doses for the AU.



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-who/update-1-african-union-slams-vaccine-manufacturers-for-restricting-access-idINL8N2QG4CK">Last month, the AU accused COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers of denying African countries a fair chance to buy vaccines and urged manufacturing countries</a>, in particular India, to lift export restrictions on vaccines and their components. 



(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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African Union to buy up to 110 million Moderna COVID-19 vaccines -officials

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106858665-1616594967647-gettyimages-1230807722-AFP_8ZK8DP.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-412941" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106858665-1616594967647-gettyimages-1230807722-AFP_8ZK8DP.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106858665-1616594967647-gettyimages-1230807722-AFP_8ZK8DP-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106858665-1616594967647-gettyimages-1230807722-AFP_8ZK8DP-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>A laboratory technician uses a pipette device to process samples to test for the novel coronavirus Covid-19, at Biogroup Laboratory’s lab in west London on January 21, 2021. JUSTIN TALLIS | AFP | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



LONDON — A newly-discovered mutation of the delta variant is being investigated in the U.K. amid worries that it could make the virus even more transmissible and undermine Covid-19 vaccines further.



Still, there are many unknowns surrounding this descendent or subtype of the delta variant — formally known as AY.4.2 — which some are dubbing the new “delta plus” variant.



U.K. government health officials have said it’s too early to tell whether the mutation poses a greater risk to public health than the delta variant, which itself is significantly more infectious than the original Covid-19 strain (and its successor, the alpha variant).



But they have stated that they are monitoring the mutation very closely: it now accounts for 6% of U.K. Covid cases that have been genetically sequenced at a time when infections in the country are rising rapidly.



Here’s what we know, and don’t know, about the variant:



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-is-the-new-variant"><a></a>What is the new variant?</h2>



Viruses constantly mutate and the coronavirus that emerged in China in late 2019 has gone through multiple minor variations that have made it virus more infectious and effective at spreading. This was first seen with the alpha variant (first sequenced in the U.K.) that went on to spread globally before it was usurped by the even more transmissible delta variant that was first discovered in India.



Delta, which was dubbed a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization in May, remains globally dominant.



But last Friday, the U.K.’s Health Security Agency issued a report in which it said “a delta sublineage newly designated as AY.4.2 is noted to be expanding in England.” The agency said it was monitoring the subtype, which includes mutations to the spike protein (A222V and Y145H) that the coronavirus uses to enter our cells.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-is-it-being-monitored"><a></a>Why is it being monitored?</h2>



AY.4.2 is being identified in an increasing number of U.K. Covid cases, with some suggesting it could be a factor in the country’s growing health crisis that has prompted some doctors to call for Covid restrictions to be reimposed.



“This sublineage is currently increasing in frequency,” the U.K.’s Health Security Agency said last week, noting that “in the week beginning 27 September 2021 (the last week with complete sequencing data), this sublineage accounted for approximately 6% of all sequences generated, on an increasing trajectory. This estimate may be imprecise &#8230; Further assessment is underway.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/england-takes-leap-into-the-unknown-lifting-covid-rules-as-cases-surge/">England takes leap into the unknown, lifting Covid rules as cases surge</a></h3>



The U.K. is currently seeing a prolonged and worrying spike in Covid cases, reporting between 40,000-50,000 new infections per day in the last week, prompting experts to question why the U.K. is so vulnerable to Covid right now.



The delta subtype is reported to be 10-15% more transmissible than the standard delta variant, but it is too early to say for certain whether it has been causing a spike in cases in the U.K.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Why does it matter?</h2>



It’s worth remembering that although AY.4.2 is being monitored, it has not been classified as a “variant under investigation” or a “variant of concern” by the WHO — that is, it has not been identified as having genetic changes that are expected to affect virus characteristics such as transmissibility, disease severity, immune escape, diagnostic or therapeutic escape.



It also has not been confirmed that it causes significant community transmission or multiple Covid-19 clusters.



Still, that status could change following further monitoring and if it continues to be sequenced in an increasing number of cases.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106958624-1634029188609-gettyimages-1282824196-65197_rf_02_4425-032_copy.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-412942" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106958624-1634029188609-gettyimages-1282824196-65197_rf_02_4425-032_copy.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106958624-1634029188609-gettyimages-1282824196-65197_rf_02_4425-032_copy-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106958624-1634029188609-gettyimages-1282824196-65197_rf_02_4425-032_copy-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>A wife adjusts her husband’s mask before entering a shop in Hampshire, England, UK Peter Titmuss | Collection Mix: Subjects | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Finding a potentially more transmissible variant matters because it could cause more Covid cases among the unvaccinated.



A large part of the world remains unvaccinated (only&nbsp;2.8%&nbsp;of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, according to Our World in Data) while developed countries are seeing more and more “breakthrough” cases as immunity to Covid wanes around six months after being fully vaccinated.



A more infectious variant could undermine vaccine efficacy even further, although there is no indicated that is the case yet with the AY.4.2 subtype.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>What do experts say?</h2>



Health officials are remaining calm about the delta subtype, for now, noting that it’s crucial to keep an eye on the mutation but not to panic.



Commenting on “delta plus” on Wednesday, U.S. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky noted that “in particular the AY.4.2 variant has drawn some attention in recent days.” She added that: “we have, on occasion, identified this sub lineage here in the United States, but not with recent increase frequency or clustering, to date.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/covid-variant-in-south-africa-is-more-of-a-problem-than-the-one-in-uk-official-says/">Covid variant in South Africa is ‘more of a problem’ than the one in UK, official says</a></h3>



As well as the U.S., Israel said it had confirmed a case of the AY.4.2 variant in an 11 year-old boy entering the country at Ben Gurion airport. On Thursday, Russia also said it had registered some isolated cases of the AY.4.2 variant. It’s unknown to what extent, if any, the subtype has been found in mainland Europe.



The U.K. prime minister’s official spokesman called for calm on Tuesday, telling Sky News that ”[AY.4.2] is something we’re keeping a very close eye on,” but stressing that there was currently no evidence to suggest that this variant is more easily spread.



“There’s no evidence for that, but as you would expect, we’re monitoring it closely and won’t hesitate to take action if necessary,” he added.



U.K. government officials are very reluctant to reimpose Covid restrictions, despite calls from health professionals to do so as British hospitals face being overwhelmed by demand as winter approaches.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106830244-16116878592021-01-26t125754z_1535866925_rc2ofl9hc1iq_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-britain.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-412943" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106830244-16116878592021-01-26t125754z_1535866925_rc2ofl9hc1iq_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-britain.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106830244-16116878592021-01-26t125754z_1535866925_rc2ofl9hc1iq_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-britain-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/106830244-16116878592021-01-26t125754z_1535866925_rc2ofl9hc1iq_rtrmadp_0_health-coronavirus-britain-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Health care workers transport a patient at the Royal London Hospital, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in London, Britain, January 26, 2021. Hannah McKay | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, which helped to developed the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine, said on Wednesday that the delta subvariant won’t change Covid picture.



“Discovery of new variants is of course important to monitor, but it doesn’t indicate that that new variant is going to be the next one to replace delta,” Pollard told BBC radio, Reuters reported.



“Indeed even if it does, delta is incredibly good at transmitting in a vaccinated population and a new one may be a bit better but it’s unlikely to change the picture dramatically from where we are today.”



Meanwhile, professor of immunology at Imperial College London, Danny Altmann, told CNBC Monday that the subtype “needs to be monitored and, so far as possible, carefully controlled.”



“Because delta has now been the dominant mutant in several regions for some six months and not been displaced by any other variants, the hope has been that delta perhaps represented [the] peak mutation performance achievable by the virus. AY.4 may be starting to raise doubts about this assertion,” he warned.

106858665-1616594967647-gettyimages-1230807722-AFP_8ZK8DP

The delta variant has a mutation that’s worrying experts: Here’s what we know so far

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="503" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DW4SLE6GKFOBNM7H2XGJM223KU-820x503.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-411982" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DW4SLE6GKFOBNM7H2XGJM223KU-820x503.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DW4SLE6GKFOBNM7H2XGJM223KU-300x184.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DW4SLE6GKFOBNM7H2XGJM223KU-147x90.jpg 147w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DW4SLE6GKFOBNM7H2XGJM223KU-768x471.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/DW4SLE6GKFOBNM7H2XGJM223KU.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A man receives a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Masaka hospital in Kigali, Rwanda March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) &#8211; A lack of access to vaccines is dampening economic recovery in sub-Saharan Africa and the region will lag behind developed nations for years, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday.



Confirming its sub-Saharan Africa growth forecast of 3.7% for this year and 3.8% for 2022 in its regional economic outlook, the fund said rising commodity prices and favourable harvests had benefited some countries, though the overall picture was perilous.



&#8220;The outlook remains extremely uncertain, and risks are tilted to the downside,&#8221; the IMF team led by Shushanik Hakobyan wrote in its report, adding much hinged on the trajectory of the pandemic and vaccinations, but disruptions in global activity and financial markets could also derail recovery.



Sub-Saharan Africa&#8217;s 2021 projected growth rates mean the region already suffered the &#8220;slowest recovery in the world&#8221;.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-imf-says-africa-urgently-needs-vaccines-to-halt-repeated-covid-waves">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/imf-says-africa-urgently-needs-vaccines-to-halt-repeated-covid-waves-2/">IMF says Africa urgently needs vaccines to halt repeated COVID waves</a></h3>



South Africa &#8211; the continent&#8217;s most industrialised nation &#8211; is expected to expand by 5.0% this year before growth slows down to 2.2% in 2022. Higher oil prices will help Nigeria expand by 2.6% in 2021 with rates remaining at that level for the foreseeable future, the report predicted.



Angola&#8217;s economy will contract by 0.7% in 2021, but its six year recession will end next year when it will return to 2.4% growth, though this is slower than previously expected due to falling investments and technical problems in the oil sector.



Rising food inflation is set to remain a burning issue, especially for the about 30 million people thrown into extreme poverty by the pandemic, the fund found. Food inflation had steadily increased since 2019 and stood at 10.9% in August across 25 countries where monthly data was available.



&#8220;The crisis has worsened inequality not only across income groups, but also across subnational geographic regions, which may add to the risk of social tension and political instability,&#8221; the authors of the report said.



&#8220;Without external financial and technical assistance, the divergent recovery paths of sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world may harden into permanent fault lines, jeopardizing decades of hard-won progress.&#8221; 



(Reporting by Karin Strohecker; Editing by Giles Elgood)

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IMF: Lack of vaccines looms over sub-Sahara recovery

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-401605" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04acjohnson22.jpg 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Toronto,,Ontario,,Canada,-,February,14,,2021,:,A,Health</figcaption></figure>



WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) &#8211; President Joe Biden told visiting Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday that the United States will make a one-time donation of more than 17 million doses of the Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine to the African Union, the White House said.



The meeting with Kenyatta at the White House marked Biden&#8217;s first as president with an African leader. Kenya holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council this month. The United States and Kenya have long cooperated on economic and security initiatives including counterterrorism.



Biden said the 17 million doses will be in addition to 50 million the United States has already donated to the African Union. The donation of the vaccine doses will help the African Union&#8217;s own regional procurement of J&amp;J via the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust, the White House said.



Kenyatta said the United States &#8220;has done its best to step up in terms of not only helping Kenya, but the African continent.&#8221;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-african-union-slams-vaccine-manufacturers-for-restricting-access"> Read more: <a href="https://cnbcafrica.com/2021/african-union-slams-vaccine-manufacturers-for-restricting-access/">African Union slams vaccine manufacturers for restricting access</a></h3>



The African Union, which has 55 member states and a combined population of over 1.3 billion people, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-who/update-1-african-union-slams-vaccine-manufacturers-for-restricting-access-idINL8N2QG4CK">has accused vaccine manufacturers of not giving its members fair access</a>. Of 5.7 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines administered around the world by mid-September, only 2% had been in Africa.



The 17 million doses of J&amp;J are available for delivery immediately and will be delivered to the African Union in the coming weeks, the White House said.



African countries and the World Health Organization have been urging drugmakers for months to set up vaccine plants on the continent to help it secure supplies of COVID-19 shots that have been hoovered up by wealthier nations.



As of last week, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/moderna-plans-mrna-vaccine-factory-africa-2021-10-07">only about 4.5% of Africans had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19</a>, according to the continent&#8217;s top public health official John Nkengasong.



Biden also said the two countries will discuss what the U.S. can do to help with security issues in the Horn of Africa and ways to fight climate change.



(Reporting By Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Nandita Bose Editing by Heather Timmons and Alistair Bell)

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