Omicron variant, Ciccozzi: we are altruistic and we go to vaccinate the Africans

• Swabs to the 133 passengers on the flight of the first infected with the Omicron variant

• Covid, the first photo of Omicron from a research group of the Child Jesus

• The patient positive for the Omicron variant has landed in Rome.

  Lazio ready for checks

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November 28, 2021 The patient from Campania on whom a sequence attributable to the Omicron variant has been identified has very mild symptoms. Could this be an indicator that current vaccines are capable of responding to this mutation? Surely this is a comforting fact. This was confirmed to

Professor

, epidemiologist in charge of the Medical Statistics and Epidemiology unit of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Bio-Medico Campus of Rome, and in close contact with Professor Tulio de Oliveira, head of the South Africa Genomics Center (Center for Epidemic Response & innovation Ceri) 

Ciccozzi explains that the spread of the variant in South Africa is due to the fact that "in cities like Durban or Cape Town only 20% of the population is vaccinated, much lower percentages in peripheral and rural areas. Furthermore, no measures have ever been adopted. of prevention, such as masks and spacing. Therefore greater possibilities of contagions and even more variants. To date, however, we cannot say that Omicron is more or less contagious than the Delta, we can say that it collects the mutations of the single previous variants, about 32. The diffusion of Omicron poses the problem of vaccination worldwide and especially in Africa. We must be altruistic and go and vaccinate them! "

In a tweet, Professor Tulio de Oliveira asks for support for South Africa and also says that "we are committed to being fast and transparent in research"

Thanks, @jcbarret @sangerinstitute for your words about our work.

Yes, time will tell if countries are mean to South Africa (which is currently the case with the extreme travel ban) or kind ... On our side, we are committed to quick and transparent science that helps global health https: // t .co / wLGjnMlGho

- Tulio de Oliveira (@Tuliodna) November 28, 2021

Amref has produced a report on the vaccination situation in the African continent.

As of November 24, 42.16% of the world's population has been fully vaccinated.

Europe at 57.29%;

the USA at 57.83%;

Italy at 85%;

Africa at 7.02%.

💉 7.8 billion COVID vaccine doses have been administered

👥 53% of world population with at least 1 dose

🌍 Total doses per 100 people

High-income countries: 147

Upper-middle income: 146

Lower-middle income: 68

Low income: 7

Our data on vaccinations: https://t.co/3imP7PqURn pic.twitter.com/b91P1PeyCG

- Our World in Data (@OurWorldInData) November 25, 2021

linked to COVID-19. South Africa is the most affected country on the continent. According to the Africa CDC (African Center for Disease Control and Prevention) as of November 24, the African continent received 360 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, and administered about 214 million (59.42%). of the supply). The African continent is home to 17% of the world's population, but bears more than 24% of the global disease burden, and only 3% of the health workforce. To achieve the goal of vaccinating at least 60% of the population (about 780 million Africans), Africa will need about 1.5 billion doses of the vaccine which, according to current estimates, could cost between 8 billion and 16 billion. billions of dollars, with additional costs of 20-30%, for the vaccination distribution program.

The African country that has administered the most doses is currently 

, which has administered 63,874,000 doses of the vaccine, covering 86.95% of the country's population (vaccines used: AstraZeneca; Sinopharm; J&J). Over 70% of the countries Africans did not reach the goal that the WHO had set: arriving at the end of September 2021 with 10% of the population vaccinated.

Matteo Giusti, a journalist from Limes, gives an overview of the difficulties ranging from the lack of vaccination plans to the shortage of syringes