US makes negative test binding on flyers; Omicron now in 38 nations

The Omicron variant has been detected in 38 countries but no deaths have yet been reported, the WHO said, as authorities worldwide rushed to stem the heavily mutated Covid-19 strain’s spread. 

The United States made it mandatory for all incoming passengers to carry a negative Covid-19 test report or a proof of recovery from the contagion as 15 US states reported the presence of the new variant. Though the Delta variant remains the majority of Covid-19 cases nationwide, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky told ABC News on Sunday. The new protocol comes into effect from December 6, the CDC  said.

Britain’s health security agency on Sunday reported 86 new cases of the Omicron variant, taking the total number identified so far to 246.

Meanwhile, France said it will try to avoid new health rules including a lockdown and Britain’s deputy prime minister expressed reluctance to require vaccinations.

The UK’s decision to force all travellers entering the country to take a pre-flight Covid-19 test, threatening to upend the peak Christmas season for airlines, reflects a “balanced approach” given the threat of the omicron variant, said Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab. The government announced last night that all travellers, regardless of their vaccine status, will have to take a Covid test within 48 hours of their departure for the UK.

Many vaccination clinics and local officials in the US are reporting long lines and delays in booking vaccination appointments recently, the product of expanded eligibility on booster shots and fears of the Omicron variant, according to experts, the New York Times reported.

On Sunday, Senegal reported its first case of Omicron but in South Africa, business leaders called for vaccines to be required.

Compulsory Covid-19 vaccinations are necessary to protect the economy from lockdowns and 

to save jobs, the Johannesburg-based Sunday Times newspaper reported, citing Business Leadership South Africa Chief Executive Officer Busi Mavuso. 

In Italy, a green pass —which is proof of vaccination, recovery or a recent negative test — will be required for buses, metro, local trains and hotels as of Monday. 

In Germany, some 63 per cent of people  support mandatory vaccinations, according to a YouGov poll for DPA, with 30 per cent opposed. That’s a reversal of a December 2020 survey when only 33 per cent backed mandatory vaccinations. A separate poll by INSA for Bild am Sonntag showed 63 per cent of unvaccinated don’t intend to get a jab, while 20 per cent plan to do so.

The Omicron variant continues to spread in the US, with three more cases reported in New York City and one each in Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Connecticut on Saturday. 

The new cases in New York, which bring the state’s total to eight, don’t appear to be connected to a large anime conference in Manhattan.

How a vax side-effect database sowed doubt in vaccinations

The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, is a government-run clearinghouse for potential issues with vaccines that has become a favoured talking point among anti-vaccine groups.

VAERS is a crucial monitoring system that helps both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration spot problems with vaccines early on. The rollout of the Johnson & Johnson Covid shot was paused, for example, after just six cases of blood clots were reported to VAERS out of nearly 7 million doses administered.

But the existence of VAERS is little discussed by public-health figureheads. If you already know about the database, you may have learned about it via anti-vaccine propaganda, which falsely promotes it as evidence that vaccines have harmful effects.

On Facebook, videos of people reading lists of reported side-effects have gone viral. Children’s Health Defense, an organisation headed by Robert F Kennedy Jr., one of the internet’s most influential anti-vaxxers, regularly touts VAERS statistics in its daily newsletter, and has encouraged its readers to report their own side effects.

It doesn’t take much to twist facts out of context. The Children’s Health Defense typically cites accurate statistics from the VAERS database in misleading newsletter headlines. But headlines often omit or misrepresent context, touting the numbers as proof of harmful vaccine side effects when they are nothing of the sort. (Bloomberg)