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Updated December 9th, 2021 at 12:41 IST

Omicron: WTO stresses on vaccine equality; says new variant likely to affect world economy

WTO chief warned that the recently discovered Omicron variant will hamper global economic recovery unless the issue of unequal access to vaccines is addressed.

Reported by: Anurag Roushan
Omicron
Image: Pixabay/Twitter/@NOIweala | Image:self
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On Wednesday, December 8, World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warned that the recently discovered Omicron variant of the coronavirus will hamper global economic recovery unless the issue of unequal access to vaccines is addressed.

Speaking at a press conference organized by Politico Europe, she said, "I believe the Omicron strain will impede the recovery and unequal access to COVID-19 vaccines among countries and nationals would be the main cause for such development," news agency Sputnik reported. She further went on to say that if significant efforts are not made to fix the problem, challenges will continue to arise that will pose a major threat to a long-term recovery of the global economy. 

As per media reports, many wealthy countries have hoarded the COVID shots in large numbers, while a number of low-income or developing countries have struggled to obtain the much-needed vaccines. According to data collected by the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, and the International Monetary Fund, the United States has acquired 248% of produced vaccines, whereas Mali has got only 30% and Kenya 56%. Meanwhile, only 7% of Africa's population has been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, whereas, the European Union and the United States have vaccinated around 67% and 58% of their populations respectively, CNBC reported citing 'Our World in Data.' 

The level of vaccine inequity is very high: WTO chief

The issue of vaccine access arises days after the new COVID variant was detected in South Africa which later spread to several countries across the world. Health experts have long believed that the coronavirus will continue to spread as long as vaccines will not be made available to all regions in the world. Last week, WTO chief Ngozi had pointed out that the amount of monetary and fiscal stimulus, as well as access to vaccines, are two predictors of economic recovery after the pandemic.

"The level of vaccine inequity is certainly quite high," she was quoted by CNBC as saying on December 2.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Omicron variant has been categorised as a "Variant of Concern" by the World Health Organization. Meanwhile, the statistical analysis undertaken by South African scientists suggested that the Omicron variant could overtake Delta as the most dominant variant by 2022. They also stated that the new variant is three times more likely to reinfect humans than prior COVID variants, according to a report by Sputnik. 

Image: Pixabay/Twitter/@NOIweala

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Published December 9th, 2021 at 12:41 IST

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