Omicron spreads to more countries, China warns of ‘challenges’ for Winter Olympics

Issued on: 30/11/2021 – 10:14

The Omicron variant first detected in South Africa poses a “very high” global risk, the World Health Organization has warned, urging governments to accelerate vaccination of high-priority groups. Follow FRANCE 24’s coverage of the day’s events.

• 11: 10 am Paris time: Norwegians urged to wear facemasks

Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoereon has urged Norwegians to wear face masks on public transport and in other crowded places amid a surge in new coronavirus infections.

He also urged municipalities to accelerate a drive to give booster shots to all adults, saying: “we can avoid a lockdown.”

Norway in September ended all domestic coronavirus restrictions, but opposition parties in recent days called on the government to take action to prevent the spread of the virus and thus avoid a hard lockdown of society.

• 10:30 am Paris time: Moderna says existing vaccines will struggle against Omicron

In an interview with the Financial Times, Stephane Bancel, the head of US vaccine manufacturer Moderna said that data will be available on the effectiveness of current vaccines in the next two weeks but that scientists are not optimistic.

“All the scientists I’ve talked to … are like ‘this is not going to be good’,” he said, adding there will be be a “material drop” in the effectiveness of current jabs against Omicron.

Bancel said researchers were concerned because 32 of 50 mutations found in the Omicron variant were on the spike protein, a part of the virus that vaccines use to bolster the immune system against Covid-19.

Moderna has already said it is working on an Omicron-specific vaccine, as is US drugmaker Pfizer.

Chief executive Bancel said his company could deliver between two billion and three billion doses in 2022 but it would be dangerous to shift all production to an Omicron-specific shot with other strains of the virus still in circulation.

• ​​​​​​09:30 am Paris time: China says Omicron will pose ‘challenges’ for Winter Olympics

China has warned that the Omicron variant will cause challenges in hosting next February’s Winter Olympics in Beijing.

“I think it will definitely lead to challenges linked to prevention and control,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said

• 09.00 am Paris time:  Japan confirms its first case of Omicron variant

Japan has confirmed its first case of the Omicron coronavirus variant, a day after authorities announced new Covid border restrictions.

The case was flagged during routine testing at an airport, where a man in his 30s, who had travelled to Japan from Namibia, tested positive to Covid-19.

The man is now in isolation at a medical facility.

On Monday, Japan tightened its border rules, barring all new foreign arrivals to the country for fears of the newly discovered variant.

Japan has recorded just over 18,300 coronavirus deaths during the pandemic