28 Nov: MSN: South Africa Punished for ‘Wrong Reasons’ Over Covid Variant
by Antony Sguazzin
“This makes it less likely for countries with scientific capabilities to report when they find something,” said Nicholas Crisp, acting director general in South Africa’s Department of Health and the head of the country’s vaccination program...
The Hong Kong case was someone who had traveled from South Africa while Botswana said the cases were in travelers, ***without saying where they came from...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/south-africa-punished-for-wrong-reasons-over-covid-variant/ar-AARaN9X
29 Nov: 7News Australia: South African doctor who discovered Omicron COVID variant slams worldwide ‘hype’
by Summer Woolley
A South African doctor who was among the first in the country to flag the possibility of a new COVID-19 variant says the “hype” around Omicron “doesn’t correlate” with the “clinical picture”...
Only a quarter of South Africans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 despite a sufficient supply of doses, owing partly to logistical problems getting them out to rural areas, but also to vaccine hesitancy and apathy among the population...
https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/south-african-doctor-who-discovered-omicron-covid-variant-slams-worldwide-hype-c-4739183
25 Nov: The Nation, Thailand: from News24: South Africa asks J&J, Pfizer to stop sending vaccines
Africa’s most developed economy has fully protected just 35% of adults, more than six months after doses were first made available to the public. About 120,000 people received shots on Tuesday, less than half the daily peak.
“We have over 16 million doses in country, or more than 150 days at present consumption,” Nicholas Crisp, deputy director-general of the Department of Health, said by text message Wednesday. “It makes no sense to stockpile and risk expiry when others are desperate for supplies.”...
It “would be wise” to use the excess shots as boosters, tweeted Shabir Madhi, Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. “Let those who willing to be vaccinated benefit.”...
https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40009224
29 Nov: Sky News Australia: President of South Africa calls for countries closing borders following Omicron outbreak to ‘urgently reverse their decisions’
by Crystal Wu
“We call upon all those countries that have imposed travel bans on our country and our southern African sister countries to immediately and urgently reverse their decisions,” (President) Ramaphosa said during his first address to the nation on Sunday.
“This is a clear and completely unjustified departure from the commitment that many of these countries made at the meeting of G20 countries in Rome last month.
“The prohibition of travel is not informed by science… The only thing the prohibition on travel will do is to further damage the economies of the affected countries and undermine their ability to respond to, and recover from, the pandemic.”
South African officials on Saturday criticised the travel bans, insisting it is being “punished” and not “applauded” for detecting the variant early...
WHO Head of Emergencies Dr Michael Ryan has cautioned against imposing travel restrictions, noting that variants detected in other countries had not led to the same response...
“We also note that new variants have been detected in other countries. Each of those cases have had no recent links with Southern Africa. It’s worth noting that the reaction to those countries is starkly different to cases in Southern Africa.
“The latest round of travel bans is akin to punishing South Africa for its advanced genomic sequencing and the ability to detect new variants quicker.”...
https://www.skynews.com.au/world-news/president-of-south-africa-calls-for-countries-closing-borders-following-omicron-outbreak-to-urgently-reverse-their-decisions/news-story/813e9d24fb33dfc1d9f1a4a20bbfb293
how long have we known this to be true?
29 Nov: MSN: ‘If it’s mild, you actually want it to spread’: Coatsworth on Omicron
by 9News Australia staff
Nick Coatsworth, a former federal deputy chief health officer, told Today the new variant could even displace the current dominant Delta variant.
“If this is milder than Delta, you actually want it to spread within your community,” he said.
“You want it to out compete Delta and become the pro-dominant circulating virus ... it could be that we want Omicron to spread around the world as quickly as possible.”...
The comment comes after Chair of the South African Medical Association, Dr Angelique Coetzee, said most patients she’s seen are presenting will non-severe, asymptotic illness...
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/if-its-mild-you-actually-want-it-to-spread-coatsworth-on-omicron/ar-AARelqP?ocid=uxbndlbing