Measures taken by the European Union aim to buy time for scientists, so that they can go on and analyse the Omicron variant and take control of the situation, as the COVID-19 pandemic takes a new turn. “I prefer that in two or three weeks’ time we consider our response as somewhat excessive, rather than miscalculating the possible risks from this mutation” Stella Kyriakides, the EU Commissioner for Health, said on Monday.
Addressing in Brussels a group of journalists from Cyprus, Kyrakides also revealed that she sent a letter, on Monday, to the Health Ministers of the 27 member states, highlighting four points. In the letter, Kyriakides said that she asked Ministers to carry on with vaccinations, secondly she asked all member states to go on with booster shots, third to continue implementing personal protection measures and fourth to strengthen contact tracing and sequencing, in order to trace the Omicron variant.
Referring to an extraordinary meeting she had earlier on Monday with the G7 Health Ministers, chaired by the UK, Kyriakides said it focused on “discussing matters pertaining to the new Omicron variant, the need for coordination, the need to proceed with vaccination programs and personal protection measures, so as to buy time for scientists to analyse this new variant.”
“We expect in the next few days more new cases of this variant to emerge in all countries, therefore every one of us must be aware and take all necessary measures” she added.
She also referred to the EU’s decision to activate the “emergency brake” on travel from countries in southern African and said that “the important thing is to have two weeks to contain the spread, as much as possible, so that scientists can study the variant.”
Kyriakides, who was also expected to meet with EMA officials on Monday, noted that coordination is important.
Asked by CNA to comment on a call by the World Health Organization, to keep the borders open and implement any restrictions on a scientific basis, Kyriakides said that “we are not in favour of closing borders” but the effort aims at containing the spread in regions where there are reports for several Omicron cases.
She also said that there shouldn’t be a sense that countries from this region are being punished and lauded the transparency and immediate notification of the COVID variant from South Africa.
Source: Cyprus News Agency