A little over six weeks since the Omicron variant was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) in South Africa on November 24, it has spread rapidly across the globe, in what the Director-General of WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described as a ‘tsunami of cases’ that is overwhelming health systems.
“Just like previous variants, Omicron is hospitalizing people and it is killing people,” added Dr Tedros at a press conference on January 6.
And the pandemic is far from over. The week ending January 2 saw the highest number of cases reported since the pandemic’s start, according to the WHO, and new record Covid-19 infections being reported by countries from Argentina to Israel each day.
Here are some stark facts of how rapidly the Omicron has struck:
- In the last week of 2021, 1 in 15 people in England had Covid-19, rising to 1 in 10 in London, according to the Office of National Statistics, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling it the “fastest growth in Covid cases that we have ever known”;
- The number of people in London hospitals with Covid-19 almost quadrupled in a month, from 1,100 in early December to 4,000 in early January, the BBC reported, and 200 military personnel were deployed to help London hospitals hit by staff shortages; and
- In Australia, total confirmed Covid-19 infections have passed one million – with more than half of these occurring last week, according to Reuters.
Preliminary studies showed there was a reduced risk of hospitalization from the variant compared with Delta, along with a reduced risk of severity in both younger and older people.
But uncertainties remain. The true picture of what Omicron is all about can only be gleaned from more researches and studies in the coming weeks and months.
Thus, it’s too premature to say Omicron is less severe or mild than the Delta variant, hence Dr Tedros’ warning against categorizing the variant as ‘mild’.
Since 2020 Covid-19 has affected almost all countries and more than 50 million people around the world. It has governments operating in a context of radical uncertainty and faced with difficult trade-offs given the health, economic and social challenges it raises.
And it doesn’t help matters that the start of the pandemic coincided with an ongoing surge in nationalism and declining support for multilateralism that was championed by the Trump administration, resulting in each country managing the pandemic crisis in a manner that is parochial and oblivious of what is going on in another country.
The irony of it all is the anti-vax movement without the support of government infrastructure or multilateral mechanism has managed to forge unity all over the world among its adherents and recruit more people to its fold, thus thwarting the efforts to eradicate the virus.
This in a way is a reflection of a Chinese wall phenomenon when each country manages its own pandemic crisis either by being oblivious or taking only a cursory interest in what is happening in other countries.
A Chinese wall is a term used in the business world as a praiseworthy concept as it describes a virtual barrier intended to block the exchange of information between departments if it might result in business activities that are ethically or legally questionable.
But in managing a pandemic crisis of an epic proportion like Covid-19, this wall must be demolished in the interest of saving humankind.
An example of this Chinese wall that needs to be demolished is when South Africa and Botswana were in for a rude shock when almost all countries over the world banned the entry of people originating from these two countries after they had in all transparency reported the emergence of Omicron.
Yes, the ban is needed to prevent the spread of Omicron but what about the economic fallout that these countries would face from the ban?
This will only encourage countries in the future not to report on the emergence of new strain because there was no incentive to do so, in fact only “punishment” will ensue.
What needs to be done in this case is for international cooperation and a multilateral platform for a fund to be created to assist such countries while the ban is implemented to alleviate the economic fallout.
Take it as if the country is being hit by a 10-Richter scale earthquake or a tsunami where normally in the spirit of blessings and mercy for all, aids came pouring in from all over the world.
These aids could also take the form of sending in experts and sophisticated genome sequencing facilities there to understand better and quickly the new variant that is putting human lives at stake.
Another area of collaboration where the Chinese wall needs to be demolished is vaccine equity across the globe, which is championed by the World Health Organization.
It targets 70% of the world’s population to be fully vaccinated by July, which is aimed at helping to end the acute phase of the pandemic.
Based on the current rate of vaccine rollout, 109 countries will miss the WHO’s target for 70% of the world’s population to be fully vaccinated by July.
WHO Chief, Dr Tedros has warned vaccine inequity across the globe risks prolonging the pandemic. “Booster after booster in a small number of countries will not end a pandemic while billions remain completely unprotected.”
He has a point there because if world leaders have a careless attitude to the relatively huge unvaccinated people outside their country, it will be these outside people that may spread the virus into their country once they are ready to open up their borders.
Although a study from Imperial College London suggests the best protection comes from three Covid-19 vaccine shots, which is why countries have rolled out booster dose programmes, it’s not sustainable to administer boosters every three to six months.
So instead of the fourth booster dose, just ensure that 90% of the adult population in Malaysia have a third booster jab, and continue to ensure patiently through carrots or sticks that the majority of the unvaccinated in Malaysia have their first dose.
Ditto with those having their first primary dose, encourage 100% of them to have their second dose in order to be fully vaccinated.
Also, instead of a fourth dose, make it more routine with an annual dose, even if Omicron has been brought under control in case of a new variant after Omicron emerges.
Since Malaysia started to introduce the third dose last October, then the annual dose should start from this October onwards, beginning with those who have completed their third dose last October.
Worldwide evidence has shown it is unvaccinated that forms the majority of deaths in many countries.
In Singapore for instance, unvaccinated individuals accounted for 70% of the republic’s Covid-19 deaths last year – 555 out of 802 Covid-19 deaths.
According to Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unvaccinated people are about six times more likely to test positive than vaccinated people, nine times more likely to be hospitalized, and 14 times more likely to die from Covid-related complications.
This has prompted President Joe Biden on Jan 4 to characterise the surge in Delta and Omicron as “a pandemic of the unvaccinated” during a meeting on Covid-19.
Malaysia should release data on the number of Covid-19 deaths among the unvaccinated so as to open the eyes of those who stubbornly refuse to vaccinate and their supporters so that they will then realise not only the danger of their death lurking around but also the deaths of people they may infect.
Thus, from sharing health data to solving global supply chain issues, Covid-19 has reiterated the importance of international cooperation and increasing support for multilateralism. Even at the local level, action and inaction can affect global health.
This is what the whole of world approach is all about – different in magnitude but similar in concept as the whole of government or the whole of society approach.
Jamari Mohtar is the Editor of Let’s Talk!, an e-newsletter on current affairs.
