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COVER STORY
South Asia Times
DECEMBER 2021
Photo- WHO
Omicron: Ominous outcome of vaccine grab The new COVID-19 variant is the result of vaccine inequality and the race for profit by big pharma companies through patent monopoly. By Richa Chintan
concrete is yet known about its transmissibility rate compared to other variants, like Delta, or its potential to cause more severe diseases. Epidemiological studies are still under way to assess whether the increase in the number of positive cases in South Africa are due to Omicron or other factors.
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he discovery of the COVID-19 variant Omicron in South Africa shows that humans cannot afford to promote the interests of one section of the population at the cost of others. The continuous evolution and mutation of SARS-CoV-2, which could lead to deadlier variants, is the result of the large unvaccinated populations in poor countries and the marginalised in rich nations. The pursuit of profit by big pharma companies through patent monopoly and the vaccine grab by rich countries goes against the logic of experts that vaccination must be extended to all if the world intends to defeat the virus. In his recent address at a COVID-19 information session for member states, World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus remarked that “the longer we allow the pandemic to drag on—by
failing to address vaccine inequity or to implement public health and social measures in a tailored and consistent way—the more opportunity we give this virus to mutate in ways we
cannot predict or prevent”. In a statement on November 26, WHO informed that the B.1.1.529 variant (Omicron) has a large number of mutations some of which are
concerning. Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant as compared to other variants of concern. The variant is still under study and nothing
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STARK VACCINE INEQUITY PERSISTS Even after repeated appeals by the WHO, the starkly gross iniquitous distribution of COVID-19 vaccines persists. Figure 1 shows the proportion of population fully vaccinated populations across countries. While rich countries, like Canada, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, have managed to fully vaccinate about 70% of their populations, Africa is languishing with a meagre 7.2%. Shockingly, some African countries like Mali and Ethiopia have only 1.5% and 1.2% of their populations respectively fully vaccinated. CONTD. ON PG 5
