Nick Schifrin:
For extra on all of this, we flip to Dr. Richard Hatchett, chief government officer of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Improvements, or CEPI, one of many main organizations, a part of the U.N.’s COVAX vaccine distribution program.
Richard Hatchett, thanks very a lot. Welcome again to the “NewsHour.”
Immediately, the Netherlands introduced that it had found Omicron variants final week effectively earlier than South Africa detected it for the primary time.
What does that say about efforts to forestall this variant unfold?
Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Improvements: This variant has unfold already around the globe.
I believe, as of immediately, it is already on all six continents. And the information from Netherlands, in some respects, is not terrifically shocking. I believe we are going to start to grasp its unfold over time.
I believe what we have to concentrate on, clearly, is Botswana in South Africa, in figuring out this variant, recognizing that it has this elevated mutational profile, has given the world discover and given the world time to arrange and to extend its surveillance actions.