Berlin, Dec. 1 (BNA): The World Health Organization (WHO) blamed national governments on Tuesday for shutting down travel from South Africa in response to the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
The UN health agency in Geneva stated that “a blanket travel ban will not prevent international spread, but rather is placing a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods”.
He also warned that such a ban could discourage countries from reporting and sharing epidemiological data and sequencing in the global pandemic.
According to the World Health Organization, at least 56 countries have responded to the latest type of coronavirus with travel restrictions.
South Africa, which first discovered the strain on November 24, has appealed to countries to lift their travel bans and said they had been punished for reporting the strain.
The World Health Organization has called for an “evidence-based and risk-based approach when implementing travel procedures”, for example by screening before travel and/or on arrival.
The World Health Organization on Friday classified Omicron as a different type of concern and said on Monday the global risk of it was “extremely high”.
On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said vaccinations were the only solution to the crisis.
“The only way out of a global pandemic – and out of this unjust and immoral situation – is through a global vaccination plan,” he said, calling for greater international cooperation to this end.
The World Health Organization wants to vaccinate 70 percent of the world’s population by mid-2022. Many developed countries have already achieved this goal, but poorer countries, for example in Africa, are still far behind.
India for its part has offered to provide Covid-19 vaccines, life-saving medicines and other equipment to African countries to help them deal with the Omicron outbreak.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement issued late at night on Monday, said the government was ready to supply Indian-made vaccines through the COVAX Vaccine Sharing Initiative or bilaterally.
The statement said that all requests from African countries have been approved through COVAX and other orders will be considered as a matter of priority.
India has so far provided 25 million doses of vaccines to 41 countries in Africa, of which 1 million doses were provided free of charge to 16 countries and another 16 million doses to 33 countries as part of the COVAX initiative.
MI