New variants of COVID-19 forces countries to not be complacent

There is an overall drop of cases and deaths throughout the world. However, countries should not be negligent as there are more contagious variants of COVID-19 popping out. Due to the rise of such variants, countries are forced to increase their vaccination programmes’ efforts. Countries and organisations also do need to watch out for false claims about the vaccines. This was most prominent in the recent report where Robert F Kennedy Jr, the nephew of the late US president John F Kennedy, spread misinformation about a vaccine that killed Hank Aaron, a professional baseball player.

In Europe, most travellers from countries where the virus may have mutated are banned from entering, which allowed Europe to be able to halve its infections rate. WHO Europe director, Hans Kluge, said that a huge number of European countries remain vulnerable as the existence of a vaccine may cause citizens to be much more complacent in their daily lives. Vaccinations in some European countries was difficult due to the AstraZeneca jab having refused authorisation for citizens above 65, which happens to be the group of people most vulnerable to COVID-19. This is further hindered by limited supplies as well. Waiting on more data on the viability of the vaccine for people over 65 was not appropriate as waiting would involve more people dying, says WHO expert Alejandro Cravioti.

18 February 2021 · roytan2017 · Second Lead