Vaccine mandates should be ‘last resort’

The World Health Organization (WHO) in Europe yesterday cautioned against making Covid vaccines mandatory, while urging better protection of children among whom cases are high.

Europe is battling a fierce surge in the pandemic, with the WHO registering 120,000 Covid-related deaths on the continent since November 23 when it warned of up to 500,000 more deaths by March 2022.

Regional director Hans Kluge said compulsory vaccines should be "an absolute last resort and only applicable when all other feasible options to improve vaccination uptake have been exhausted".

Noting that mandates have increased vaccine uptake in some cases, Kluge said these were "context specific", and added that the effect mandates may have on "public confidence and public trust" must also be considered.

The regional health bloc also noted that the number of cases had increased "across all age groups, with the highest rates currently observed in the five to 14 years age group."

"It is not unusual today to see two to three times higher incidence among young children than in the average population," Kluge told a press conference.

"The health risks extend beyond the children themselves," Kluge added, noting that children risk passing the infection to parents and grandparents in the home.

Improved ventilation and the use of masks should be a standard at all primary schools as part of a safe learning environment, while avoiding school closures and remote learning, the regional director said.

"Vaccinating children should be discussed and considered nationally," Kluge added.

The WHO's European region comprises 53 countries and territories, and includes several in Central Asia.

The organisation also expressed concern about rising cases of the recently discovered Omicron variant of the virus, but stressed that the fight should still be focused on the currently dominant Delta variant, reports AFP.

"The problem now is Delta and however we succeed against Delta today is a win over Omicron tomorrow, before it eventually surges," Kluge said.

Meanwhile in Norway, where 29 cases of the Omicron variant have been confirmed, health authorities warned that the new variant would likely add to the stress on health services to a "significant degree".

Britain's health minister said on Monday there is now community transmission of the Omicron variant across regions of England but it is too early to say if this will "knock us off our road to recovery".

Defending the introduction of stricter rules to slow the spread of the virus, Sajid Javid told parliament the government was "leaving nothing to chance" while scientists assessed the variant, which was first reported in South Africa last month.

Javid said there are now 261 Omicron cases in England, 71 in Scotland and four in Wales - a total of 336.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told his top team of cabinet ministers yesterday that early indications suggest that the Omicron variant is more transmissible than the earlier Delta variant.

"The prime minister said it was too early to draw conclusions on the characteristics of Omicron but that early indications were that it was more transmissible than Delta," Johnson's spokesman told reporters.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday advised Americans against travel to France, Jordan, Portugal, and Tanzania, citing Covid-19 concerns.

The CDC now lists 83 destinations at "Level 4: Very High" classification and also on Monday added Andorra, Cyprus and Liechtenstein to the highest travel advisory level, reports Reuters.

New York City expanded its array of Covid-19 mandates on Monday, setting vaccine requirements for children as young as 5 years old and for workers at all private-sector companies as the Omicron variant pushes into more US states.

In a glimmer of hope, British drugmaker GSK said yesterday its antibody-based Covid-19 therapy with US partner Vir Biotechnology is effective against all mutations of the new Omicron variant, citing new data from early-stage studies.

The data, yet to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, shows that the companies' treatment, sotrovimab, is effective against all 37 identified mutations to date in the spike protein, GSK said in a statement.