Cabinet restricts travellers over Omicron variant
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government has introduced travel restriction from nine countries in southern Africa and one in Europe in light of the emergence of a new coronavirus variant, which has been named Omicron. The countries affected are Belgium, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
According to new regulations issued Friday night, anyone who arrives here from, or has travelled through, these countries within the 21 days preceding their arrival in the Cayman Islands, must undergo PCR testing within 24 hours of arrival, and must also complete a quarantine period of not less than 14 days.
Travellers from these countries already in the Cayman Islands must also complete a 14 day quarantine.
People who have been in contact with someone who has travelled from or through the banned countries, including any other occupants of a private residence where they may be quarantining, must follow the instructions of the medical officer of health concerning testing and quarantine.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Omicron, which was first reported in South Africa on 24 November, as a variant of concern, given the multiple mutations recorded by the scientists in South Africa who identified this variant.
By Saturday morning suspected cases of the latest and worrying variant of SARS-CoV-2 were also being investigated in Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. The virus has also already been detected in Hong Kong and Israel.
Countries around the world began announcing travel bans and restrictions on Friday in response to the variant, which scientists have warned could be the worst and most infectious strain of the virus to date.
The South African foreign ministry issued a statement on Saturday strongly criticizing the travel bans, which it said were punishing the country for “excellent science” that should be applauded. Instead international governments were “punishing South Africa for its advanced genomic sequencing and the ability to detect new variants quicker”.
Public Health experts around the world are determining how effective the current COVID-19 vaccines are against this new strain and how fast it spreads.
See the new regulations concerning the Omicron travel bans in the CNS Library.
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Category: Health, Local News, Medical Health, Travel
“The chief executive of Moderna, Stephane Bancel, said data on the efficacy of the vaccine against the newest variant could be available within two to six weeks but that it will be months before Omicron-specific jabs can be shipped.” He also stated that travel bans and restrictions will help slow transmission in the interim.
The dislikes here are from the selfish. They are enemies of humanity
Japan has announced a cautious approach and will temporarily ban all foreign arrivals until the risk of Omicron can be accurately assessed and appropriate permanent precautions introduced.
The Japanese favor people over profits
Your “leaders” are literally making stuff up at this point
Denial of the pandemic is a tired trope that is based on an alternate reality conjured up by mentally unstable alt right cults.
Unfortunately there’s a lack of critical thinking in the gen-pop.
What about the UK? There are more cases there than Belgium. These are all political decisions not concerns for our safety.
If we continue to panic every time a new variant is discovered we will continue to live in panic mode for years to come.
It’s not “Panic mode” , it’s being cautious. A new variant could be devastating if it avoids the immunity provided by the vaccine and it’s important to do everything to slow down the transmission.
Excellent post. Thank you.
The dislikes show how doomed we truly are if these people have influence
What are we slowing it down for? A specific vaccine to be developed that targets this variant? It will take months to develop then say another 6 months to manufacture and roll out and administer. Fewer people will take it because of the general sentiment of vaccine mistrust and fatigue.
Fast forward a year and another variant comes out that’s resistant to this vaccine…. Then what do we do?
The problem is that this isn’t going away. Closing borders isn’t going to work.
The Japanese sure could have used your valuable experience in pandemics before closing the borders
Care to make a counter-argument?
Yep and as long as there are unvaccinated we will most definitely be kept in this cycle.
The unvaccinated are the real problem in the Cayman Islands especially all those unvaccinated health care workers.
The vaccinated who have abandoned proper mask use and social distancing and those who want a full return to normal tourism are the truly dangerous
Right. It’s not like there is an unprecedented global virus that has killed millions of people globally to date, is still killing thousands of people daily and is mutating to become even more deadly.
An example of a common sense approach to the Omicron variant:
“The best defence against the omicron variant is stopping it at our border. In addition to the measures recently announced, we continue to urge the federal government to take the necessary steps to mandate point-of-arrival testing for all travellers irrespective of where they’re coming from to further protect against the spread of this new variant,” said the statement from Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott and Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s chief medical officer of health.”
This approach should have been done globally weeks ago. Countries that are playing from behind are in serious danger now
Nature always finds a way. We should collectively recognise by now that what we’re doing isn’t working.
This sounds encouraging… the experts think with a booster especially we will be fine against omicron.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/28/what-does-appearance-of-omicron-mean-for-the-double-jabbed
The issue is that inevitably more unvaccinated will catch Covid and fill hospitals, but hopefully soon we will have no unvaccinated adults in cayman if the vaccination rates keep rising, and if there are still unvaccinated who choose not to get it then we can’t really feel sorry for them or close borders over their stupid choices.
You just don’t see it do you?
You mean wave 27, booster 19, Latin names, that it?
Vaccinations alone will not protect you or anyone else. Closure of borders and isolation is necessary as the variant spreads
From the number of scientists, doctors and experts commenting here, I simply do not understand how we have not conquered COVID yet.
Half believe vaccinations are the cure and half believe the virus is “fake news”
5:42, Simple, we have not conquered COVID yet because 40% of Americans are not fully vaccinated and 22% of Caymanians are not fully vaccinated.
We will never conquer COVID because the virus will keep mutating with so many people still not vaccinated.
A perpetual pandemic of the unvaccinated. Simple really.
Not exactly true. Mutating virus strains that may make vaccinations ineffective while the vaccinated get back to what they think is normal life is just as dangerous, if not more dangerous because willful ignorance of mutations is in play
Don’t think there is much to worry about here or any need to change our travel policies. We know the current vaccine, which was created for the first alpha strain that emerged 2 years ago, die to the brilliance of mRNA and other vaccines like Oxford, works excellently against beta and delta. No reason to think the vaccines especially with a booster won’t be very good against omicron as well. And all the new from South Africa is that vaccinated people with omicron are not getting worse symptoms than delta.
By what is written foe this, So these people have been here a week. They quarantine, their family quarantines, kids at school will have to quarantine, all their class, then their family, their work. So 6 degrees and the whole island is in quarantine
No doubt if any travel bans are put in, it won’t apply to cayman airways who will just introduce more routes like Cuba announced last week and double fares to increase profits.
The UK has decided that LFTs should not be relied on for the Omicron variant and will require PCR tests from Tuesday. This sounds prudent as the initial reports say that at least some LFTs do not work with Omicron. Hopefully somebody in government is paying attention.
Who would have guessed that a $6 over the counter test kit isn’t trustworthy?
You mean the government that for months has insisted on proof of a negative PCR test prior to arriving here? That government?
CNN – “Stricter lockdown measures came into effect in the Netherlands on Sunday, as the country sees climbing Covid rates and at least 13 infections of the new Omicron variant…
Public places such as restaurants, bars, non-essential shops, theatres and cinemas must close between 5pm and 5am amid new curfew measures.”
Dr. Fauci this morning about the existing antibody treatments used to treat Covid not working with Omicron and about how people who have had an earlier version of Covid not being immune:
“… the profile of the mutations strongly suggest that it’s going to have an advantage in transmissibility and that it might evade immune protection that you would get, for example, from the monoclonal antibody or from the convalescent serum after a person’s been infected and possibly even against some of the vaccine-induced antibodies.”
We need to follow the science. The UK has dropped LFT testing and reverted to PCR tests as it is not clear that FLTs work with Omicron. We should do the same until it is known which, if any, of the LFTs work with Omicron.
https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-two-cases-of-the-omicron-variant-being-detected-in-the-uk/
You are simply following the agenda
Q Anon nonsense. How many more times will these Q theories be proven false?
“Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said the world faces a “race against time” to understand the new Covid variant and, if necessary, modify vaccines to counter it.
“We know we are now in a race against time,” von der Leyen said on Sunday, AFP reported. She called for the public to take precautions now – so scientists have time to understand Omicron and chart a path forward.
“The scientists and manufacturers need two to three weeks to have a full picture about the quality of the mutations of this Omicron variant,” she said.”
Mother Nature moves faster than science, and it’s just a matter of time before the next variant of the virus is revealed. The global system of capitalism is based on infinite growth with finite resources. We have forsaken the single planet in our solar system that humans can survive on in the pursuit of more profits, more stuff, more wars, and Mother is reminding us of our failures with a never ending pandemic and climate change that those who cannot see reality or do not want to believe. Climate change and pandemics and the current form of capitalism will be our downfall.
Reading interviews with top Oxford professors and intensive care doctors in the uk Sunday times today just reinforces how selfish the unvaccinated are, the nhs ICU Covid patients are almost now all unvaccinated with up to 1000 hospital beds taken by, in many cases young and healthy, people who refuse to get vaccinated therefore protecting others such as cancer patients from getting life saving treatment. The same will happen in cayman,.. unvaccinated preventing vaccinated from hospital treatment for non Covid illnesses that they deserve to be treated for,
The truly selfish and obtuse are those that choose to ignore the mutating form of this deadly virus for a return to a normal that no longer exists.
It’s fine if you think Covid is a deadly enough disease to permanently alter our way of life.
I think most people don’t agree.
Is it a disease to be taken seriously? Clearly. Is it worth wearing space suits forcing vaccinations, banning international travel and eliminating group gatherings?
I personally don’t think so. You may disagree, as is your right. Feel free to close yourself off from society.
So, one that takes a pandemic that has killed over 5 million people globally, is mutating and has world leaders concerned enough to close borders is wrong to be concerned?
People like you are the reason to be concerned. This is a freaking global pandemic. It’s not the cold or a simple flu. I am sorry for anyone that may fall ill because of your carelessness and selfishness.
I have seen many time comments are posted stating not to allow from uk etc. But next mi nute I see people going to uk to see their family and sending kids to colleges. And I see people crying that they are missing their kids when we had flight bans. So let us be practical. We can ban every other country if we are prepared not to go anywhere.
Some of us are not prepared to stay here with no travel. It’s not reasonable when half the island are expats who have been stuck here, vaccinated, without being able to travel and see family for 2 years,
You have been able to travel. You are just not willing to quarantine. Explain that to your family.
Of course, if your boss is an asshole, that is a different matter, but the only people who have been prevented from seeing their families were Australians and Kiwis – and that was their governments preventing travel, not Caymanian.
Everybody is free to travel. I suspect that what you mean is that you want to travel without the inconvenience of testing and/or isolation on return.
Sorry. Self centered selfishness rules the world
There has been a small but vociferous group that have wanted to ban all flights from the UK for the last 2 years. I get the impression their motivation has nothing to do with the safety of these islands but more a dislike of the people they imagine use the flights and a wider issue with anyone daring to get an education beyond their own.
aye…’poor little rich kids’
Morocco has the right idea:
“Morocco is suspending all incoming air travel from around the world, starting on Monday, for two weeks because of the rapid spread of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus, the Foreign Ministry has announced.
The ministry tweeted that the decision was taken to “preserve the achievements realised by Morocco in the fight against the pandemic, and to protect the health of citizens”.
Israel has done the same.
after 2 weeks then what?…’just two more weeks’??
time to think of a new plan.
Pandemics don’t follow a specific schedule. Sorry for the reality check
1st time to Grand Cayman in ’79 @ Coral Caymanian Hotel; was to be trip # 32 in ’22, BUT, it sure is a DIFFERENT world, now….”stay the course”, Grand Cayman !!
“Authorities in the Netherlands confirmed that 13 people who arrived on flights from South Africa on Friday have so far tested positive for the new omicron coronavirus variant, AP reports. The 61 people who tested positive for the virus on Friday were immediately put into isolation while sequencing was carried out to establish if they had the new variant.”
The good news is this is not like delta where a new variant has developed human to human and is widespread before countries identified it and acted. The multiple mutations in this new variant last week shows it likely developed within one immunocomprimised individual (likely with hiv), has been dineitifed early, and very likely that vaccines work against it and it doesn’t dominate like delta. No need for overreaction… I think the current requirement to be vaccinated, have a negative pcr to fly into cayman is perfectly reasonable and will protect us,
I hope you’re correct, we should take precautions until we have more facts. The proven mantra in contingency planning: “Hope for the best and Plan for the worst”.
Sadly your theory has no basis in science. It is extremely unlikely that dozens of mutations developed in a single individual sick with HIV or anything else. That is not how mutations occur. Similarly there is no basis in science for saying that our current screening process will work with Omicron. We don’t know and neither do the best scientists on the planet. A+ for wishful thinking though.
awesome, so airborne aids.
why so many people dying to travel during these times that could cause their death.
Because we are not hermits
If aliens invaded Earth now and we were told to shelter to save our lives, some of us would be dumb enough to ignore that just to go outdoors and live as if like hasn’t changed
Because we are vaccinated and want to get on with life. We refuse to be locked down for the next ten years as Covid is not going away.
Check to see if you are still vaccinated. Given omicron, it appears you may not be.
Imagine if you will, the bombing raids over London in World War 2 and sheltering underground to protect yourself and your fellow countryman and then thinking, I refuse to be locked down underground night after night. We should get on with it. War isn’t going away.
And yours, and mine.
To see family we haven’t seen in 2 years, given the demographic of Cayman in many cases elderly parents.
Tis sad, but these aren’t normal times. A global pandemic has permanently changed what we consider normal. It’s tough to accept, but if one doesn’t learn to accept that, it becomes even sadder
Chances of that 1,000 person cruise ship allowed here in December is approaching 0%…
I hope that you are correct.
We should adopt the UK approach of requiring a pre-flight PCR and also a 48 post arrival PCR with mandatory quarantine until the 48 hr post arrival PCR comes back negative. This should be done for all travelers.
Agreed we should use the UK system! NOT your system of PCR x 2
That way recovered people don’t need a PCR as they can show positive for months!
UK System…
Type of test
The test must meet performance standards of ≥97% specificity, ≥80% sensitivity at viral loads above 100,000 copies/ml.
This could include tests such as:
a nucleic acid test, including a PCR test
a LAMP test
an antigen test, such as an LFD (lateral flow device) test
You must check with your test provider that the test meets the standards. You may not be able to travel if it does not.
If you have recently had COVID
If you have recently recovered from COVID but are no longer infectious, you should use a lateral flow device (LFD) test. LFD tests have a lower sensitivity than PCR or LAMP tests, so they are less likely to return a positive result from a historic infection. The LFD test must meet the minimum performance standards as set out above.
Unfortunately, the information available indicates that people who have contracted Covid do not have immunity for this new variant.
Dr. Fauci has stated that Omicron can infect people who have had Covid already as well as people who are vaccinated:
“Its ability to infect people who have recovered from infection and even people who have been vaccinated makes us say this is something you have to pay really close attention to and be prepared for something that’s serious.”
That post didn’t age very well: UK now requires PCR test from everyone.
The uk does not require pre departure pcr. That is a cayman requirement
The UK and US should do the same then.
Israel has completely closed its borders to non-nationals until the Omicron variant is sorted. That is definitely the safest thing to do.
Looking forward to miss meat market
And now its in another bunch of countries including the UK
What a joke ! Must undergo really ?? These persons need to be test on arrival and quarantine immediately but yet again how dear we offend and our Mindless Tourism minister opening up CAL to countries who’s Airports are transfer points for passengers coming from those very areas !
Omicron sounds like a particularly nasty Decepticon.
Move the letters around…omicron = moronic
Here is everything you need to know. Nothing to panic about. I ma6 be wrong but seems likely the vaccine works against this new variant, and also that it isn’t any more deadly than delta. We need to stop panicking every time the virus mutates,
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/omicron-variant-reaches-britain-p7ddffjkt
We have just had a lot of young South Africans come in for the audit firms.. Has any of these firms raised the alarms yet? Surely Immigration must have records of them arriving as well.
Most audit firms still doing audits remotely so wear your mask at work, socially distance & wash/sanitize your hands.
Wasn’t that in October? And didn’t all of them have to quarantine and test negative before release?
Therefore I don’t believe you have a point.
Think they need to quarantine anyway? Vaccines not recognised/country less than 50% vaccinated.
They would have tested negative. Quarantined and tested negative. Get a life and ditch the paranoia.
England has double the Belgium cases will PACT ban BA
The caymanian government just don’t think. Belgium? It will have been in every country in Europe since a week ago at least. And they can’t stop the London flights. They risk getting to a stage when the expats going home for Christmas, if they cancel those flights. May say is enough is enough. And remember the expats runt he financial services here, with no educated caymanians to rep,ace them, which pays for the roads, schools, hospitals, airport, beach cleaning, digital infrastructure and stops this place being third world. Be careful pact… remember the foreigners make this a holiday destination and crime free.
Disgraceful your comments about caymanians not being able to run their own affairs. You would find they are a lot brighter than yourself. You should do some research. Talk about discrimination and racism against the host of a country that allowed your sorry arse in their homeland. Why don’t you go back to from which rock you came from since you have no respect. The Immigration Board should be removing persons like yourself of this island like NOW. You disgraceful idiot
Here goes the blame game now after failing miserably.
Accepting failure is a victory itself. Poor African countries, always have to pay the hefty price.
The colonialist mindset is growing stronger
Stop panicking, this variant doesn’t appear to have serious consequences. Just get vaccinated.
Don’t speak the truth. There is no drama in that!
Let’s see PACT have the balls to do that to the UK a who have double the cases of Belgium
They were stupid to include Belgium. They shouldn’t ban travel.. the testing and vaccination protocols are sufficient,
There is no evidence that LFTs work at all with Omicron.
It would be a gigantic overreaction and completed uncalled for. Ther is no reason why vaccinated residents with a negative pcr should have to quarantine again when flying back from the uk. They deserve a break from here and to see families after all this time. And remember it is uk and other expats who drive the economic revenue of the governemnt here, so they need to act favourly on their income stream.
Hilarious. When I said a similar thing about Alden, all I got back was “It’s the motherland”! Stop playing politics.
Why have we not restricted the UK…..they have cases of it.
CIG must ban all from UK now….bet they don’t do that!
The U.K. / Europe/ USA/ Africa might ban travellers from here. Our positive rate much higher than elsewhere.
It likely is here with wp holders from SA. We won’t be able to stop it, just slow it down till was know more about it or freak out.
When are restaurants, stores and essential service locations planning to comply with 6 feet public health orders for their customers? Widespread open disregard is going to make tourists uncomfortable and bite us on the a$$.
Move on. Arenas and stadiums are full in North America and Europe. We are approaching the end of two years of this. Enough. Do what you want but the rest of us are going to live our lives again. You can just stay under your bed and hide.
From a triple vaxxer.
You may ignore Omicron but that does not mean that it will ignore any of us.
6 feet if don’t have a mask!
FFS!
We can’t add Israel until Ms. Cayman and entourage get home safely!
Israel is already locked down for two weeks.
So we won’t win?
The last contestant to leave wins.
So a South African arriving in Cayman on BA has to quarantine for 2 weeks. Others sitting beside him/her in the airport, in the plane seated nearby on the 12 hours flight from LHR etc, no quarantine.
Pointless. This is seeded now in many countries. If this variant truly has a competitive advantage over Delta, then this will become the dominant strain.
Which is why we should immediately reintroduce quarantine – at least until we understand how dangerous Omicron is.
We already do. It makes one tired. But not as tired as I am of such comments.
Good observation but wrong conclusion. We need to change our protocol. We need pre-flight testing the way the UK does then quarantine for 48hrs then another PCR test and then if negative home isolation for a total of 14 days.
I’m travelling on BA soon, Cayman already insists on a full (gold standard) PCR test prior to travel from the U.K. it also requires travel insurance that includes Covid cover or a disclaimer that makes travellers personally liable for costs. Oh, and it wants a digital record of vaccination backed up with original copies.
The ignorance of some is mind blowing.
Dr. Fauci has stated that Omicron can infect people who have had Covid already as well as people who are vaccinated:
“Its ability to infect people who have recovered from infection and even people who have been vaccinated makes us say this is something you have to pay really close attention to and be prepared for something that’s serious.”
We already know every variant of Covid including the first ever strain can infect vaccinated people and that people an catch Covid more than once. This is nothing new.
2 cases of Omicron has now been detected in the UK and people who have been to southern Africa in the last few weeks are being asked to isolate. Seems prudent.
There will be new variants and mutations for decades to come. We shouldn’t overreact. Agree with banning source countries but we shouldn’t start travel bans on everywhere that has a few cases. The negative pcr pre travel, day 2 testing on arrival and vaccination requirements are sufficient. This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated and it’s highly likely with a booster this new strain is not more of a threat than delta.
This might have started to become a pandemic of the unvaccinated – until Omicron. Any comfort you have may be about to go out the window. We may need to close our borders again.
The trope of this being a pandemic of the unvaccinated is getting tired. You and others using this to place blame on those aren’t in lockstep with your thoughts creates division and a sense of xenophobia
I do not agree with everything that PACT has done in relatin to Covid but this was absolutely the right thing to do.
Hopefully anybody that has recently arrived from any of the countries where this variant is known be will voluntarily get tested to ensure that it is not already here and spreading.
So now require everyone from the UK to quarantine 14 days now that cases are detected there? And inevitably, cases will arise in the US.
Too late, just had half a dozen Saffa’s start at our place for audit season. Multiple that across most audit firms on Island and I suspect this variant is here.
All vaccinated and negative for Covid. You’re talking nonsense.
11:05, You telling me that we are so smart here that we already know how to detect the Omnicom variant?
Tell that to a Schiphol Airport. Do you even understand what is going on?
11:04, The Netherlands is much more advanced in determining the new variant than we are in the Cayman Islands. I know we are a brilliant people but not that brilliant that we can already detect the new variant.
You obviously do not understand epidemiology.
Maybe, maybe not. There are less than 100 cases in SA. SA has a population of almost 60 million. So prevalence isnt high there yet.
13 out of 600 on two aircraft. It is now everywhere. If we are to stop it from coming here we will have to reintroduce quarantine immediately. Israel has closed its borders entirely. Do you think they may know something we don’t? Do you think we should find out?
The experience of the Netherlands should inform us. They tested 600+ people who arrived at Schipol on Friday. More than 50 were PCR positive and from the first batch of those cases in which the genome was sequenced 25% had the Omicron strain.
Also important was the fact that on the flight from JBurg to Schipol only 30% of the passengers were wearing masks so the Dutch authorities are expecting more cases from those infected during the flight.
The Netherlands found that of people 600+ people arriving from JBurg on Friday alone, 13 had Omicron so it is safe to say that there are many thousands with Omicron in SA not just 100.
Why have they hired South Africa ns and not Caymanians?
Because there are no Caymanian qualified chartered accountants to do the jobs!!
7:02, Bobo, not enough Caymanians study accounting in business school. If you want to be hired study accountancy in Business School.
Don’t tell me that there are certified accountants who are Caymanian that are unemployed here in the Cayman Islands.
7:02, Problem in the Cayman Islands is that the education system is not geared towards the financial services sector.
Get your Minister of Education and politicians to make your education system more focussed on financial services than the traditional British liberals arts education.
@7:02am – obviously there are no qualified Caymanians to do this job. Probably because those that are qualified already have jobs.
Please tell us where to find all these local accountants.
I think you answered your own question.
Because Caymanians don’t have the requisite qualifications or experience? Or just hire Caymanians no matter how under qualified they are … just, well because they are Caymanian? Yeah that will work!
Please tell us where to find all these Caymanians who want to be accountants.
5:42, Simple, we have not conquered COVID yet because 40% of Americans are not fully vaccinated and 22% of Caymanians are not fully vaccinated.
We will never conquer COVID because the virus will keep mutating with so many people still not vaccinated.
A perpetual pandemic of the unvaccinated. Simple really.
All people that have arrived in the Cayman Islands from South Africa this month need to be tested for the new variant ASAP. If positive they must go into quarantine.
CIG needs to take action fast.
Unfortunately, the planet is at least two weeks late on sequencing and containment. It’s curious that leading first world think tanks omit these facts and conclude that screening of outbound traveler manifests should begin on Monday for the tens of thousands daily that have long scattered and distributed worldwide. Omnicon swept South Africa to become dominant strain in 2 weeks. We should prepare for similar sweeping transmissibility and effect policy to manage our own hospital admissions. We should be sophisticated enough to understand that the genie is out of the bottle without policy theater. Messaging needs to be louder on importance of distancing, masking, and vaccinations as if it’s here, or will be very soon.
Says the expert.
@10:46 – 60 cases in 60 million is hardly a “dominant strain”. Love all these commenters commenting on subjects that they have ZERO first hand knowledge of, yet speaking as if they do.
Meanwhile, first world countries are still boosting their citizens long ahead of delivering their first dose pledges to poorer nations. At this point, new variants are the product of first world priority shifting, specifically: pledges unfulfilled to humans that matter less.
South Africa has excess vaccines. It is not a supply issue; it is a demand issue in South Africa.
Please. At least a third of the world’s population won’t take the first vaccine because they listen to crap on social media or YouTube and think the vaccine is either poison, contains tracking devices, is ineffective or that Covid is just the flu. More than 40% of the US remains unvaccinated. You can’t blame First World countries from offering boosters to those who want them.
👏👏👏👏👏
Well said Well said
10:25, South Africa has had vaccinations for months. They are free there. They actually told Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson earlier this month to stop sending vaccines there because the uptake in South Africa was too low.
The vaccination rate is 24% in South Africa today.
To include Belgium is ridiculous. This variant is in the uk too…surely not going to close down and stop expats finally getting back to England for Christmas on the heathrow BA flights? This doesn’t change anything … on bbc news this morning a leading South African medic said all the new variant vaccinated cases are doing fine at home and the uk cmo maintains delta is still the main variant of concern, which we know the vaccine works against.
Face it. The only logical response now is to also require quarantine for everyone coming from the UK, and very shortly, the USA. Either we close our borders again, or freely let Omicron in. That is the choice. We should probably pause and find out what Omicron does, before letting it come.
Complete overreaction. We can maybe do what the uk have announced yesterday, and say isolate until negative pcr, which in reality just means you book a pcr for your day of arrival and get a rapid 3 hr result, replacing the day 2 LFT. that would be a reasonable response. You can’t start making everyone quarantine for 14 days every time Covid mutates. We’d be in perpetual quarantine for decades.
Safety first, or not. Our choice.
Everyone can travel. Through quarantine!
And what did quarantine do to tourism and local travel? Quarantine is not the answer.Travelers did not come when there was a quarantine period and the local population breached quarantine. People are coming and going now. Testing is the answer. Be vaccinated and test.
Boris is holding a press conference shortly, so no one might be going anywhere for Xmas!
South Africa will say that because they are upset about the flights. If you think it’s no reason for concern, go there yourself.
This is the only right decision this government has made. The variant is in Belgium so it should be included. And in case you haven’t noticed the vaccine isn’t keeping the Delta variant under control. I know it could be worse versus not vaccinated but there are still people in the hospital and even dying from Covid and double vaccinated.
Before you talk about comorbidies. It’s quite possible to have cancer and live a long life. The same with diabetes and high blood pressure. My father lived to 90 with both.
Thank you. Good post!
It is also in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands.. we need to reintroduce quarantine or accept it here. Now.
I agree. To ONLY include Belgium is ridiculous when we KNOW that it is already in the UK. All arrivals no matter where they come from, should immediately be required to quarantine for at least 14 days with geo-tag.
It’s the only way to be sure.
England makes better chocolate than Belgium
Now you have taken it too far sir!
9:56 I’m glad there are other people out there not giving into hysteria! We cant keep locking down and generally losing our heads every time a new variant emerges.. :/
Virologist are tentatively saying this could be a break through…. Highly infectious but not causing serious illness? Mutations starting to weaken the virus? Maybe but for now …. Get vaccinated, wear a mask, practice good hand hygiene and protect yourself your family and the community. Be a good citizen.