Our live coverage of the Omicron coronavirus variant has moved here.
India says it “stands ready” to support countries in Africa affected by the Omicron variant, including providing vaccines and medical supplies.
In a statement Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it was offering support to countries experiencing Omicron outbreaks by providing drugs, test kits, gloves, PPE kits and medical equipment such as ventilators.
The ministry also encouraged African nations to order India’s Covid-19 vaccines through COVAX, the World Health Organization’s global vaccine sharing program, or bilaterally.
“We express our solidarity with the countries, particularly in Africa, who have so far been affected by the Omicron variant,” the MEA said.
The MEA said the government has approved all orders placed so far by COVAX for supplies of Covishield, a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca-Oxford and produced by the Serum Institute of India, to African nations such as Malawi, Ethiopia, Zambia, Mozambique, Guinea and Lesotho.
Supplies of the India-made Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin have also been approved for Botswana.
To date, India has supplied more than 25 million doses of its domestically developed vaccines to 41 countries in Africa through donations and COVAX supplies.
The world population needs to be vaccinated urgently to ensure any future coronavirus variants are stopped before they can begin, a special adviser to the director general of the World Health Organization said Monday.
Variants can develop when the virus spreads, making areas with low vaccination rates particularly dangerous. The next variant of concern can be prevented if more of the world is protected, but there is a lot of work to do, Singer said.
The vaccination rate is currently only about 7% in Africa, he said.
In the meantime, Singer said, people need to be cautious as scientists work out how much of a threat Omicron poses. “I think a prudent approach here is called for and that means raising your guard,” he said.
Singer said that included getting vaccinated, wearing a mask and physical distancing.
“Those are prudent things that people can do to take in their own hands while the answers are being sorted out,” he said.
Ecuador announced new travel restrictions Monday on arrivals from a number of African countries in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant.
President Guillermo Lasso said people coming from any country on the banned list would be refused entry to Ecuador, even if they had only stopped over or transited through those countries.
The countries include South Africa, Botswana, Egypt, Mozambique, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Namibia. The measures will go into effect Wednesday.
At the same time, Lasso said Ecuador’s border with Colombia would be reopened in phases, starting with the transport of goods.
In order to enter Ecuador, all travelers must present their vaccination certificate and a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours. Children under the age of 16 must present a negative PCR test.
At least 70 countries and territories have now imposed travel restrictions to curb the spread of the new variant.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Monday he’s not panicking about the Omicron variant but his company is readying an updated vaccine just in case one is needed.
Bourla said it will take two to three weeks to be able to fully assess how well the Pfizer vaccine works against Omicron. “I doubt that the results will be that we can find ourselves that we are not protecting at all,” Bourla said.
Whether or not the vaccine is as effective against Omicron as it is against the Delta variant, boosters should reduce the threat dramatically, Bourla said.
Pfizer has already started producing a Covid-19 vaccine specifically targeting Omicron, as it has with other variants, Bourla said. “If indeed we need it, we will not waste any time,” he said.
The company had produced a vaccine specifically formulated against the Delta variant and another against the Beta variant, but didn’t need either, because its original vaccine worked well against those strains. If a new vaccine is needed for Omicron, Bourla said it would take 100 days or fewer to get it tested and into production.
“We should be able to transition manufacturing to this new vaccine without losing any single dose, almost any single dose, from the current capacity,” Bourla said.
Everyone around the world must have access to vaccinations, Bourla said.
At least 69 countries and territories have imposed travel restrictions in response to the spreading Omicron variant, according to analysis and data compiled by CNN.
Here’s the list:
*European Union member state
The Omicron variant will likely make it more difficult for countries to bring the Covid-19 pandemic under control, Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University School of Public Health, said Monday.
“What concerns me about this, the variant, is two things. One, is pretty good circumstantial, but good, evidence that it is highly contagious, maybe more contagious than the Delta variant,” Jha told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.
Jha said he was also concerned because many of the mutations seen in Omicron affect the spike protein, which is the part of the virus specifically targeted by vaccines and certain treatments such as monoclonal antibodies.
While vaccine maker Moderna has said it is working on a potential Covid-19 booster that would specifically work against the Omicron variant, Jha said no one should wait for it to get a booster.
At least 17 countries and territories have confirmed Omicron variant cases, according to analysis and data compiled by CNN.
Spain and Austria both reported their first cases of the Omicron variant in the past 24 hours, while Germany confirmed its first infection with no overseas travel history.
These countries and territories have confirmed Omicron infections:
Travel bans don’t really work to stop the spread of coronavirus variants, CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner said Monday.
Foreign travelers to the United States have to be fully vaccinated and tested and those kinds of measures are effective at reducing the import of viruses, Reiner said.
While dozens of countries, including the US, have restricted travel from some African countries, such restrictions will not stop the spread of the Omicron variant. In fact, Reiner and several other scientists have said that they think Omicron is likely present in the US already.
A 39-year-old man from Leipzig has been diagnosed with the Omicron variant, the first confirmed case in Germany with no travel history, according to health officials.
The infected man had not traveled abroad recently nor had any contact with anyone who had traveled overseas, Leipzig Health Department director Regine Krause-Döring said.
It’s the fourth Omicron case to be discovered in Germany. Two previous infections were detected in Munich and a third case was found in the state of Hesse.
Moderna’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Paul Burton said Monday that the company is testing its Covid-19 vaccine against the new Omicron variant, a variant he is watching with concern.
He said research from Seattle suggests the Omicron variant probably emerged in South Africa or Botswana, laid relatively low, and then suddenly in early November exploded to become the dominant strain, displacing the Delta variant in South Africa.
Moderna’s CEO Stephane Bancel said earlier that he thought the variant would have an impact on the vaccine’s efficacy.
The company is currently studying the variant using samples from people who have gotten the Moderna vaccine at different doses to see how it can neutralize the “very worrying” variant, Burton said. He added that Moderna is also developing an Omicron-specific Covid-19 booster that would take two to three months to get into testing and then into production.
Argentina’s government announced in a statement on Monday that passengers that have been to the African continent within the last 14 days before their arrival to the country must undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine, over concerns raised by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the new Omicron coronavirus variant.
Quarantine may only be terminated after the 14-day period, if passengers have a negative PCR test taken at least ten days after their arrival, the statement added.
Further restrictions and mandatory requirements for travelers coming into the country were published by the Argentinian government in their official Gazette, a government approved book containing new legislation, with full effect starting Monday, the statement said.
Some of the newly listed requirements include the need for a complete vaccination certificate, a negative PCR test done within 72 hours before departure and the need for an antigen test upon arrival in the country.
The statement also indicated that foreigners not residing in the country will be required to have “Covid-19 health insurance,” which includes “coverage of hospitalization services, isolation and / or medical transfers, for those who result positive cases, suspected or close contacts.”
Nations around the world are racing to identify how many cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant they have, as fears over the new strain force governments to shutter borders and revisit restrictions.
The new mutation, which is potentially more transmissible, was first discovered in South Africa and has since been detected in several countries.
Here’s a list of the places reporting cases so far:
The list will be updated here.
Americans face at least two weeks of uncertainty before major questions may get answered about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Health experts urge the public to be cautious and patient as scientists try to find out whether Omicron — deemed a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization — is more transmissible and dangerous than other forms of the novel coronavirus and whether existing vaccines work against it.
Omicron variant cases have been detected in numerous countries, including Canada. No cases have been found in the United States, but many experts says it’s inevitable.
The overall global risk related to the newly discovered B.1.1.529 strain of the coronavirus “is assessed as very high,” WHO said in a technical brief Monday.
Warnings about the renewed threat from the Omicron variant come as Americans have become weary of nearly two years of precautions and are returning from a Thanksgiving break that saw air travel at close to pre-pandemic levels.
Experts are now racing to determine the answers to these three critical questions:
• Do Omicron’s mutations make it more transmissible?
• Is it more severe or dangerous or deadly than other variants?
• Is it more resistant to vaccines?
It could be weeks before we have the answers.
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said Monday that people should get vaccinated or get booster shots — and keep adhering to public health safety measures.
“I think (high filtration) masks and … physical distancing, without the need to shut down, can be very effective until we get a hold of what is really going on here,” he said.
With much about Omicron still unknown, officials say vaccinations and boosters remain the best protection available.
Pfizer is expected to seek authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its vaccine booster shot for those who are ages 16 and 17, a source familiar with the plan tells CNN.
Currently only those age 18 and up are eligible for booster shots six months after their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
The development comes as scientists in the US and around the world are racing to learn more about a new variant named Omicron.
On Monday, President Biden urged Americans to pay attention, but not to panic. He also encouraged those who have not yet gotten a booster but are eligible to do so.
Biden had hoped to have boosters made widely available months ago, but the move ultimately didn’t happen until late November. Asked Monday if making vaccines available to everyone sooner could have helped with the current dynamic, White House press secretary Jen Psaki referred the question to medical experts.
Pfizer didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to testify Tuesday that the Omicron variant threatens America’s economic recovery.
Much remains unknown about Omicron. Yet if it prolongs the pandemic, it could keep prices rising, hurt job growth and make the supply chain crisis worse, Powell is expected to tell Congress.
Wall Street sold off stocks and oil Friday after learning about the potentially highly infectious and more immunity-resistant variant. But the market regained much of its lost ground Monday after investors took a breath and sensed a buying opportunity.
Stocks similarly sold off when Wall Street first heard about the Delta variant, but it soon rebounded and surged to new records as vaccine availability spread and health officials learned how to better manage the pandemic.
In his prepared testimony, Powell noted the economy took a body blow in the summer as the Delta variant spread across the globe. Many Americans were afraid to travel, shop, eat at restaurants and return to the office. That kept caregivers at home, exacerbating the labor shortage and supply chain crisis that have held back the US economy.
But infections fell throughout the fall, and the economy picked up steam. Powell predicted the US economy would grow a robust 5% this year. As infections fell, starting in September, the job market rebounded, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.6%, the lowest rate since May 2020.
The economy has ebbed and flowed with rising and falling infections, and Omicron threatens to undo much of the economic goodwill America has generated throughout the autumn months.
Powell, who President Biden recently renominated for a second term as Fed Chair, said the imbalance of supply and demand have artificially sent prices surging well above the Fed’s 2% annual inflation target. Americans have spent about 5% more on goods and services this year, Powell noted.
Inflation could be here to stay for a bit longer, Powell said. It’s a bit of a Catch-22: The labor shortage had been sending wages (and prices) higher, but with job growth accelerating in recent months, employers are finding fewer applicants for their available jobs — and they have to raise pay to attract new workers.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Biden, reiterated the importance of Americans to get vaccinated and boosters as the government continues to learn more details about the new Omicron variant.
He continued: “So we have every reason to believe, even though this is an extraordinary unusual variant because of the number of mutations, there’s no reason to believe that it will not happen, that if you get the level of antibody high with the regular booster to the regular vaccine, that you’re going to have at least some effect and hopefully a good effect on ability to protect against this variant.”
Fauci said that he couldn’t predict whether the new variant would become the dominant variant in the US.
“We don’t know. And that’s the reason why we’re looking at what the pattern is in South Africa,” he said.
With regards to travel restrictions, Fauci said he didn’t anticipate a need for further measures and that he was hopeful they would not be of a “very long duration.”
“I think what was done about the restrictions from South Africa and neighboring countries was merely because when the information came out, about the molecular makeup of this virus with all of the mutations that were of concern, we felt we needed to do something right away,” he said.
“Hopefully those restrictions are not going to be a very long duration until we get a handle as to what’s going on, but we do not anticipate any further restrictions,” Fauci added.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said there is no sign right now that the new Omicron variant of coronavirus is more severe than previous versions, but that more information is needed from officials in South Africa to know for sure.
Fauci said his counterparts in South Africa were working quickly to determine how contagious and dangerous the variant is, but said “they assured us they’d know probably in a matter of a week, a week and a half as to whether or not we’re dealing with something that for the most part is more severe, equally as severe or less severe.”
Fauci also praised the work of scientists and officials in South Africa, saying they “had been extremely cooperative and collaborative and transparent with us about what’s going on there.”
Watch:
Officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have held daily and ongoing calls with all state health officials, as well as public health partners, a White House official tells CNN.
Calls were held throughout the weekend with various public health officials at the state and local level.
These calls included state, county and city health officials; state epidemiologists; state laboratory directors; and partners from public health organizations including the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, Association of Public Health Laboratories, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, National Association of County and City Health Officials, and Big Cities Health Coalition.
Officials briefed President Biden for approximately 45 minutes Sunday on the new variant and again on Monday morning, with a heavy dose of caution about what’s still unknown. Health officials say there are likely far more cases worldwide than is currently known.
The President noted Monday that scientists and officials are learning more every day about the new variant. Biden said that on Thursday he would put forward a “detailed strategy outlining how we’re going to fight Covid this winter. Not with shutdowns or lockdowns, but with more widespread vaccinations, boosters, testing and more.”
CNN’s Kate Sullivan contributed reporting to this post.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strengthened recommendations for booster doses of coronavirus vaccine in the US on Monday, saying all adults should get boosted six months after the second dose of Pfizer/BioNTech’s or Moderna’s vaccine or two months after the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
It’s a slight but significant tweak to the wording of guidance issued earlier this month when the CDC endorsed an expanded emergency use authorization for boosters from the US Food and Drug Administration.
“The recent emergence of the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) further emphasizes the importance of vaccination, boosters, and prevention efforts needed to protect against COVID-19,” she added.
“Early data from South Africa suggest increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant, and scientists in the United States and around the world are urgently examining vaccine effectiveness related to this variant. I strongly encourage the 47 million adults who are not yet vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible and to vaccinate the children and teens in their families as well because strong immunity will likely prevent serious illness,” she said.
Previously, the CDC said people should get a booster if they are 50 and older, or 18 and older and living in long term care. Otherwise, it advised that anyone 18 and older may get a booster. Now the word “should” applies to everyone 18 and older.
It will take a few weeks of testing to know for sure whether the Omicron variant is more transmissible than Delta, and whether it evades the protection offered by natural infection or vaccines. Scientists will also be looking to see if it causes more severe disease or evades the effects of treatments.
Where things stand now: In the meantime, CDC will be watching for Omicron to appear in the US. That requires an extra step of testing as the tests used to diagnose Covid-19 won’t tell people which variant they are infected with. “I also want to encourage people to get a COVID-19 test if they are sick. Increased testing will help us identify Omicron quickly,” Walensky said.
“And finally, to stop the spread of COVID-19 we need to follow the prevention strategies we know work,” she added. These include vaccination, wearing masks, improving ventilation indoors and keeping a distance from others, especially if they are unvaccinated.
All three cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in Hong Kong have been imported cases, Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP) announced in a statement on Monday.
The first, Case 12388, is a 36-year-old male who arrived in Hong Kong from South Africa on Nov. 11. He is asymptomatic and had received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.
The second, Case 12404, is a 62-year-old male who traveled from Canada to Hong Kong on Nov. 10. The onset of his illness began on Nov. 17 and he had received two doses of the vaccine.
The third, Case 12432, is a 37-year-old male who had transited through Ethiopia and arrived in Hong Kong on Nov. 24. He is asymptomatic and had received two doses of the vaccine.
Hong Kong has reported a total of 46 new cases of Covid-19, three of which were confirmed to be Omicron, in the last 14 days. All of the new cases were imported, the CHP said.
