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….

China reports 2,666 new local coronavirus cases, 51 deaths in last 24 hours

 Of the new local cases, 2,472 infections were reported in Shanghai while the rest of the cases were reported in 17 other provincial-level regions

Mainland China reported 2,666 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 51 more deaths in the past 24 hours, the country’s National Health Commission said on Monday. Of the new local cases, 2,472 infections were reported in Shanghai while the rest of the cases were reported in 17 other provincial-level regions on the mainland including 79 in Jilin, 26 in Heilongjiang, and 14 in Beijing, Xinhua reported citing the commission.

The country also reported 17,528 locally transmitted asymptomatic infections of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, of which 16,983 local asymptomatic carriers were identified in Shanghai. As many as 29,178 confirmed COVID-19 cases are currently undergoing treatment in hospitals while 2,982 patients recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, China’s capital city Beijing is on high COVID-19 alert after the city recorded 21 new community cases on Sunday. Moreover, China has been witnessing surges in its big cities in the past few months including Shanghai, where residents have been in lockdown for four weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak.