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JOHANNESBURG -- Worried scientists in South Africa are scrambling to combat the lightning spread across the country of the new and highly transmissible omicron COVID-19 variant as the world grapples with its emergence.
In the space of two weeks, the omicron variant has sent South Africa from a period of low transmission to rapid growth of new confirmed cases. The country’s numbers are still relatively low, with 2,828 new confirmed cases recorded Friday, but omicron’s speed in infecting young South Africans has alarmed health professionals.
“We’re seeing a marked change in the demographic profile of patients with COVID-19,” Rudo Mathivha, head of the intensive care unit at Soweto’s Baragwanath Hospital, told an online press briefing.
“Young people, in their 20s to just over their late 30s, are coming in with moderate to severe disease, some needing intensive care. About 65% are not vaccinated and most of the rest are only half-vaccinated,” said Mathivha. “I’m worried that as the numbers go up, the public health care facilities will become overwhelmed.” Read More
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The comments were made earlier today by Frank Ulrich Montgomery, chairman of the global physicians’ society the World Medical Association (WMA).
“My great concern is that there could be a variant that is as infectious as Delta and as dangerous as Ebola,” he told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
According to Montgomery, “It will be necessary to vaccinate the world for years to come.”
The physician also called for draconian lockdown measures to be re-introduced to stop Germany’s current COVID wave.
“We should therefore close the Christmas markets nationwide,” he said. “There is no point in banning the Christmas markets in one region if people then go to another where they are still open.”
Montgomery also wants New Years Eve fireworks celebrations and other mass gathering events to be cancelled.
“If the incidences cannot be brought under control, the federal states would have to be able to close nationwide businesses again or impose curfews,” he added.
Montgomery may be leaving himself open to criticism of being alarmist given that the average fatality rate of Ebola is 50%, with some strains even having a 90% mortality rate. Read More
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Novavax Inc (NVAX.O) said on Friday it had started working on a version of its COVID-19 vaccine to target the variant detected in South Africa and would have the shot ready for testing and manufacturing in the next few weeks.
The company's COVID-19 shot contains an actual version of the virus' spike protein that cannot cause disease but can trigger the immune system. The vaccine developer said it had started developing a spike protein specifically based on the known genetic sequence of the variant, B.1.1.529.
"The initial work will take a few weeks," a company spokesperson said. Shares of the company closed up nearly 9% on Friday.
Novavax's vaccine received its first emergency use approval earlier this month in Indonesia followed by the Philippines. Read More
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