Vaccines still protect against new Covid-19 variants: WHO chief Ghebreyesus

 WHO experts emphasised that vaccines are still highly effective against Covid-19, even against the new variants of the disease emerging in South Africa and the US

Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasised on Wednesday that vaccines are still highly effective against Covid-19, even new variants of the disease emerging in South Africa and the US. WHO data shows that global cases of Covid-19 are continually declining, with reported weekly deaths at their lowest level since March 2020. However, the Organization’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned at a press briefing on Wednesday that these trends don’t tell the full story, Xinhua news agency reported.

“Driven by Omicron sub-variants, we are seeing an increase in reported cases in the Americas and Africa. The South African scientists who identified Omicron late last year have now reported two more Omicron sub-variants, BA.4 and BA.5, as the reason for a spike in cases in South Africa,” he said. “It’s too soon to know whether these new sub-variants can cause more severe disease than other Omicron sub-variants, but early data suggests vaccination remains protective against severe disease and death,” he added….