The announcement of a new Coronavirus variant now designated by WHO as Omicron has sent Southern African governments, and much of global society, including financial markets, reeling.
Declared ‘a variant of concern’ by the WHO this coronavirus mutant is a particularly virulent, easily and rapidly transmissible strain that poses a serious threat to the Covid-19 public health measures currently in place and poses a worrying threat to government, public and scientific efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
The consequences of its outbreak have already been direly alarming. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted more than 900 points, its worst single day drop of the years 2021, signalling frightful implications for the global economy should this variant start spreading around the world.
Many western European countries, including the United States of America and other countries whose citizens constitute the prime grade of tourist visitors to the Southern African region, have already imposed travel restrictions on us, a serious threat to efforts we have been making to open our national economies, especially the lucrative travel, hospitality, entertainment and the tourism economy.
Even more worrying is that governments still lack enough data about omicron to take any mitigation actions against the arrival of this variant. The variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are very concerning. According to a statement from the WHO preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of ‘reinfections’ with this omicron variant , as compared to the other variants of concern, including the terrible delta variant that has caused so much damage on economies and frightening rates of deaths around the world.
This variant is clearly different from the other variants according Tulio de Oliveira, a Bio-Informatics Professor at two universities in South Africa, and its mutations, 32, have been identified, with more than 30 in the spike protein, the region that interacts with human cells prior to cell entry. Famous American Immunologist, and Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden, Dr Anthony Fauci, told CNN that the variant is already spreading at ‘a reasonably rapid rate’ with cases reported in Botswana, South African, Britain, Belgium and Israel, arguing it would not be surprising if the variant was already spreading in American society. Infact, the United States of America as of December 01st reported one case of omicron.
The other problem with omicron is that scientists aren’t yet agreed on the very important issue of whether the current coronavirus vaccines authorised/approved by America (Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca), and already administered into the arms of more a billion people around the world, will be as effective against this new variant as was the case for other variants before it like such as the highly contagious delta.Dr Fauci expressed concern with regard to the transmissibility increase and possible evasion of immune response, a serious enough worry that should concern all governments and health experts.
Manufacturers of Pfizer have issued a statement saying it will take them two weeks to answer for the effectiveness of their vaccine in this regard, and two weeks is a long time in the world of this marauding pandemic.
But the most disturbing result of the emergence of this terrible variant, besides the possibility of new high rates of global infections, and reinfections, and more crowded hospitalization, and more deaths of people, is the really central question on how much longer the omicron variant, alongside the already existing frightful delta variant, could make the Covid-19 pandemic last.
How many countries and economies can take more restrictive national lockdowns without suffering long-term damage and serious economic dislocations and social fragmentations? How many health systems, especially here in the global south where we are fighting not only Covid-19, but HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and TB as well, can take more of this prolonged health burden?
It is important to emphasise the point that Southern Africa ranks amongst the lowest vaccinated regions in the world.And now we have to deal with this omicron threat; naked, unprepared, and vulnerable to the worst possible outcomes of a marauding killer disease.
Our national economies are weak and vulnerable to any, and every, shock in the global economy be it finance, health-oriented or just political instability, we are just too structurally weak to absorb and mitigate such shocks in the short-term. Already the Covid-19 pandemic has destroyed our economies, blighted society and Communities, and finance for vaccines and rebuilding economies and human lives from the ashes of such destruction is not available.
International Society is shutting us out and pharmaceutical makers are vowing to keep close watch on how their vaccines might hold up against this new variant, while medical experts are all over the media urging caution, but not panic; what good is all this to us? If omicron brings with it a higher bar than the devastating and appalling wretchedness of the delta variant, just how are we going to protect ourselves?
The variant is already spreading rapidly in South Africa where only 35% of the population is fully vaccinated. Vaccination rates in the other Southern African countries now affected, or impacted, by this new variant, and the health restrictions global society is imposing on us, are even worse off as far as vaccination rates are concerned; not to mention crumbling health systems and economic stagnation and general public welfare erosion; including deepening poverty, increasing violence against women and children, low agricultural production, unprecedented job and income loses and shredded social protection safety nets after almost two years of poor economic activity due this pandemic and the health mitigation protocols in place to fight it.
As Civil Society we really worry about these latest developments; both the eruption of this unfortunate mutant variant, and the nature of reaction by western governments: what South African health Minister, Joe Phaahla, rightly calls a ‘draconian reaction’.Is this the best they can do? Why not look at the scientific data before sponsoring such a counterproductive knee-jerk reaction?
Yes, this is a serious health threat but we must also acknowledge and emphasise the point that much of Africa has actually, against all the worst possible western predictions of mass deaths, escaped much of the worst depredations of this pandemic. Why not adopt responses that build on this ability to get the best possible protection from the scantiest of resources.
Yes, what we need at a time like this are resources, and financial help, and a fair and equitable distribution of vaccines; not strident, and limitless, travel bans and restrictions that are non-discriminatory, draconian and designed to exclude rather than help.
What we need right now are vaccines and medical teams well-equipped to help us contain the spread of the omicron, and other variants, from spreading unchecked and killing our people. Global society, not just the WHO, should convene as soon as possible to address this issue and stop treating us as expendables.
