Tag: OMICRON

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-Top News COVID-19 USA

Fauci’s take on Omicron

“This is particularly relevant if you’re having an infection that is much, much more asymptomatic and minimally symptomatic, particularly in people who are vaccinated and boosted…reports Asian Lite News.

 The number of hospitalisations due to the Omicron variant is a better measure to understand its severity than the traditional case-count of new infections, top US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci has said.

Fauci has joined a growing body of experts who argue that case counts ‘don’t reflect what they used to’, as data suggests Omicron is less severe but more contagious, the Guardian reported.

However, referring to the Omicron surge in the US as a “tsunami”, Fauci also cautioned the public not to be fooled by preliminary data suggesting the variant lacks the severity of earlier Covid-19 variants, such as Delta.

“You have a virus that looks like it might be less severe, at least from data we’ve gathered from South Africa, the UK and even some from preliminary data from here in the US,” he was quoted as saying on CNN’s State of the Union.

“It’s a very interesting, somewhat complicated issue a so many people are getting infected that the net amount, the total amount of people that will require hospitalisation, might be up. We can’t be complacent in these reports. We’re still going to get a lot of hospitalisations.”

Some experts argue that the US has reached a stage in the pandemic where reports of dramatic surges in case counts prompt unnecessary worries and that government officials and the public should instead review death and hospitalisation data when considering precautions.

Case counts “are causing a lot of panic and fear, but they don’t reflect what they used to, which was that hospitalisations would track with cases”, Dr Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

Asked if it was time to focus less on just the case count, Fauci said: “The answer is, overall, yes”.

“This is particularly relevant if you’re having an infection that is much, much more asymptomatic and minimally symptomatic, particularly in people who are vaccinated and boosted.

“The real bottom line that you want to be concerned about is, are we getting protected by the vaccines from severe disease leading to hospitalisation?” Fauci said on ABC’s This Week.

The US has made improving vaccination rates a priority, but progress is slower. Fewer than 25 per cent of US children are vaccinated, pediatric hospital admissions are surging and nationally only 62 per cent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated with barely a third receiving a booster.

“I’m still very concerned about the tens of millions of people who are not vaccinated at all because even though many of them are going to get asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic, a fair number of them are going to get severe disease,” Fauci said.

ALSO READ-Fauci: Omicron cases likely to peak by end of January

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-Top News COVID-19 Europe

SPECIAL 2022: Omicron Hits Tourism in France

Paris, Sept. 4, 2020 (Xinhua) -- People wearing masks walk on the Trocadero Place near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, Sept. 3, 2020. The French government aims to mobilize 100 billion euros (118 billion U.S. dollars) in a recovery plan "of historic size" to help the country recover from the coronavirus pandemic crisis, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Thursday. Ecological transition, competitiveness and social cohesion were identified as the three pillars of the plan dubbed "France Relaunch," which Castex said was "the most massive announced to date among major European countries." (Xinhua/Gao Jing/IANS)

France has reported record numbers of coronavirus infections in the last few days. A total of 104,611 new cases were reported on December 25, and 206,243 on December 30…reports Asian Lite News.

Christmas and the end of the year were once again celebrated in an unusual atmosphere in France. The outbreak of coronavirus, especially the Omicron variant, has disrupted festivities, causing great concern among the population.

In Paris, people queue in long lines in front of pharmacies waiting for a Covid-19 test so that they can spend the holidays with their family or friends, Xinhua news agency reported.

Estelle, a journalist in her thirties, has asked her friends to take Covid-19 tests in order to join the Saint Sylvester celebrations that she hosts each year at her home.

“I have asked my friends to bring the proof of a negative test. But despite the precautions, I feel that the celebrations won’t be the same as before (Covid-19). The atmosphere won’t be as relaxed with the Omicron variant that is circulating,” she said, adding that some friends have preferred staying at their home instead.

This fear of catching the virus has also constrained Sebastien, a French expat living in Africa, who has cancelled all his appointments with his friends.

“I return to France once per year to celebrate Christmas and Saint Sylvester with family but it is also an occasion to see each of my friends according to their availability. Sadly that won’t be possible this year. I prefer being careful and calling them just on the phone,” Sebastien told Xinhua.

France has reported record numbers of coronavirus infections in the last few days. A total of 104,611 new cases were reported on December 25, and 206,243 on December 30.

Omicron has become the main coronavirus strain in France. “62.4 per cent of screened tests (at the start of the week) show a compatible profile with the Omicron variant,” said the last weekly survey by the French Public Health published on Thursday.

Rising infections have also hit restaurants hard, forcing some to close this year. Pascal Boulanger, the owner of bars and restaurants in Mont-de-Marsan, southern France, is one of these restaurateurs.

“It is a choice a little bit imposed. From the moment where conditions are not reunited to do something that looks like a New Year Eve, there isn’t any interest to organise something,” he explained to France Bleu Radio.

Those who decided to open, such as Bastien d’Andre, a restaurateur in the same city, noted that the “infatuation is not as strong and there are few reservations” this year.

Although the government has decided not to impose a curfew for New Year’s Eve, it has increased additional restrictive measures in response to the outbreak of the Omicron variant. In Paris, for example, the police department announced the return of the obligation to wear a mask outdoors in all streets effective from December 31.

The French government is counting on its vaccine strategy to curb the new variant. And recent studies on the efficiency of the Pfizer and Modern vaccines against the severe forms of the Omicron variant are the foundation of that hope.

France has accelerated its vaccination campaign since the appearance of the new variant, and announced recently a draft law bill to transform the health pass to a vaccine pass, to oblige the non-vaccinated to go for it.

ALSO READ-France reports new daily record of over 100,000 new Covid-19 cases

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COVID-19 News World

Omicron variant to replace Delta as dominant global strain

Omicron variant to replace Delta as dominant global strain

The fast-spreading Omicron variant is likely to soon replace the Delta strain globally, experts in Singapore have warned, as countries after countries have reported a record surge in Covid cases…reports Asian Lite News

The warning comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) has cautioned that the more transmissible Omicron together with the currently circulating Delta variants might lead to “a tsunami of cases,” putting immense pressure on national health systems.

“From current data, it looks like Delta will go down over time relative to Omicron,” Dr Sebastian Maurer-Stroh, executive director of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research Bioinformatics Institute in Singapore, told The Straits Times on Wednesday.

Professor Dale Fisher, a senior consultant at the National University Hospital’s Division of Infectious Diseases, said that Omicron is already dominant in Australia, India, Russia, South Africa and the UK.

“We are seeing a global transition from Delta to Omicron because with a greater transmissibility, the virus is fitter and has a reproductive advantage,” Fisher was quoted as saying.

In India, the Omicron infection tally has climbed to 961, of which 320 patients have been discharged from hospitals.

A Covid-19 tracker, developed by UK’s University of Cambridge, has predicted that India may soon see an intense but short-lived virus wave “within days”, even as the highly transmissible Omicron variant of Covid is spreading like wildfire in the country.

Britain reported a new record increase of 183,037 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 12,559,926, according to official figures.

The total number of cases and deaths in the UK stands at 12,559,926 and 148,089 respectively, according to government data.

The US, which has recorded more than 54 million cases to date, reported over 5,12,000 cases on Tuesday, the highest single-day spike since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

According to data shared by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Omicron is estimated to be 58.6 per cent of Covid-19 variants circulating in the country.

ALSO READ: WHO chief worried about ‘tsunami’ of omicron, delta cases

The Covid-19 infections with the Omicron variant in Germany increased by 2,686, or nearly 26 per cent within one day to a total of 13,129, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases.

Canada reported 23,585 new Covid-19 cases, the first time to record more than 20,000 cases on a daily basis, elevating the cumulative total to 2,094,042 cases with 30,231 deaths, according to the state news agency.

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Afghanistan Arab News COVID-19

Afghanistan lacks equipment to detect Omicron variant

Afghanistan lacks equipment to detect Omicron variant

The country has asked World Health Organization (WHO) to provide testing machines for the new fast-spreading Covid-19 variant…reports Asian Lite News

The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan said that the country does not have equipment to detect Omicron, adding that it has asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide testing machines for the new fast-spreading Covid-19 variant.

Both Pakistan and Iran, the two countries that share borders with Afghanistan, have confirmed cases of the new variant, reports TOLO News.

“Omicron is not distinguishable by the PCR machines that we have now, it requires more developed machinery. We have contacted the WHO and they have promised to provide these machines for us by the end of January 2022,” Javed Hazher, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, health workers have said that the fight against the virus should not be ignored as Afghanistan is struggling with economic and political challenges.

They added that that neglecting the pandemic will lead to many people to be infected with the Omicron variant.

ALSO READ: US to provide 1mn vax doses to Afghanistan

“The economy and political problems caused Covid-19 to be ignored and not taken seriously. A crisis will happen if we do not face the latest wave of the coronavirus triggered by the Omicron variant,” said Ahmad Jawad Fardeen, a doctor.

According to WHO figures, Afghanistan has so far registered 157,998 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 7,355 deaths, while a total of 4,674,518 vaccine doses have been administered.

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-Top News COVID-19 UK News

UK Covid cases soar to new daily record of 183,037

Despite the growing number of cases, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will not bring in new restrictions this year in England to limit the spread of Omicron, which now accounts for 90% of all community infections, reports Asian Lite News

Britain reported 183,037 Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, a new record and over 53,000 more than the previous highest figure registered just a day earlier, government statistics showed.

The rise, sparked by the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus, also coincides with an increase in the number of patients in hospital who have tested positive for coronavirus.

Despite the growing number of cases, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will not bring in new restrictions this year in England to limit the spread of Omicron, which now accounts for 90% of all community infections, according to health officials.

Johnson said the high number of people who had received Covid booster shots, which now stands at more than 33 million or about 58% of the population aged over 12, meant there was no need for new rules ahead of New Year celebrations.

“Enjoy New Year sensibly and cautiously,” he said. “We’ve got cases certainly going up, we’ve got a lot of cases of Omicron, but on the other hand we can see the data about the relative mildness of Omicron.” The data, which included five days of figures for Northern Ireland due to differences in reporting practices over the Christmas holidays, showed the number of cases had risen from Tuesday’s previous high of just under 130,000 and were up 41.4% in the last seven days.

Hospitalisations have also been rising sharply and according to official figures, there were 10,462 people in hospital in England with Covid-19 on Wednesday, up by 916 from the previous day.

Of these, 771 needed to be in mechanical ventilation beds, a figure that has changed little during December.

Johnson said he had been told by some doctors that up to 90% of patients with COVID in intensive care had not received their booster vaccines.

Johnson urged people to get “vital” booster jabs, saying “the overwhelming majority” of those currently going into intensive care in our hospitals have not had the booster jab.

He cited doctors as saying “the numbers are running up to 90 percent of people in intensive care who are not boosted”.

 Prime Minister Boris Johnson talks with NHS staff and volunteers at the Saga Vaccination Centre in Ramsgate. Picture by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street

Johnson defended his decision not to tighten virus curbs in England over the festive period, while Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have limited social contacts and closed nightclubs.

The high take-up of boosters in England “is allowing us to go ahead with New Year in the cautious way that we are,” he said.

The government also factored in “the data about the relative mildness of Omicron”, Johnson said.

He stressed the “very, very clear effect of getting those jabs, of boosters in particular,” saying “that’s what’s making a huge difference”.

There were also 57 deaths recorded within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, up from 18 on Tuesday, but well below the numbers being reported earlier this month.

Over 10,000 in hospitals with virus

The number of people in hospital with Covid in England topped 10,000 on Wednesday, the highest total since March, as UK case numbers hit a new record.

According to updated government figures, there were 10,462 people in hospital with Covid in England on Wednesday morning, the highest level since March 1. Fresh UK-wide data was not available.

More than 33 million people in the UK have had booster jabs, while Johnson has vowed to every adult an appointment by the end of the year.

The UK Health Security Agency tweeted that it was delivering record numbers of kits and more would become available.

The London Fire Brigade said more than 700 firefighters had tested positive or were self- isolating, taking more than a third of its fire engines off the road.

The UK has been one of Europe’s worst hit with a death toll of 148,089.

ALSO READ-Johnson ‘threatened to demote Sunak’ over leaked letter

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-Top News COVID-19 World News

WHO chief worried about ‘tsunami’ of omicron, delta cases

WHO said in its weekly epidemiological report that the “overall risk” related to omicron “remains very high.” It cited “consistent evidence” that it has a growth advantage over the delta variant…reports Asian Lite News.

The head of the World Health Organization says he’s worried about the omicron and delta variants of COVID-19 producing a “tsunami” of cases between them

The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday that he’s worried about the omicron and delta variants of Covid-19 producing a “tsunami” of cases between them, but he’s still hopeful that the world will put the worst of the pandemic behind it in 2022.

Two years after the coronavirus first emerged, top officials with the U.N. health agency cautioned that it’s still too early to be reassured by initial data suggesting that omicron, the latest variant, leads to milder disease. First reported last month in southern Africa, it is already the dominant variant in the United States and parts of Europe.

And after 92 of the WHO’s 194 member countries missed a target to vaccinate 40% of their populations by the end of this year, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged everyone to make a “new year’s resolution” to get behind a campaign to vaccinate 70% of countries’ populations by the beginning of July.

According to WHO’s figures, the number of COVID-19 cases recorded worldwide increased by 11% last week compared with the previous week, with nearly 4.99 million newly reported from Dec. 20-26. New cases in Europe, which accounted for more than half of the total, were up 3% while those in the Americas rose 39% and there was a 7% increase in Africa. The global gain followed a gradual increase since October.

“I’m highly concerned that omicron, being more transmissible (and) circulating at the same time as delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases,” Tedros said at an online news conference. That, he said, will put “immense pressure on exhausted health workers and health systems on the brink of collapse.”

WHO said in its weekly epidemiological report that the “overall risk” related to omicron “remains very high.” It cited “consistent evidence” that it has a growth advantage over the delta variant.

It noted that a decline in case incidence has been seen in South Africa, and that early data from that country, the U.K. and Denmark suggest a reduced risk of hospitalization with omicron, but said that more data is needed.

WHO’s emergencies chief, Dr. Michael Ryan, underlined that note of caution. He said it will be important in coming weeks to “suppress transmission of both variants to the minimum that we can.”

Ryan said that omicron infections began largely among young people, “but what we haven’t seen is the omicron wave fully established in the broader population. And I’m a little nervous to make positive predictions until we see how well the vaccine protection is going to work in those older and more vulnerable populations.”

WHO officials didn’t offer specific comments on decisions by the U.S. and other countries to reduce self-isolation periods. Ryan said “these are judgement calls that countries make”, taking into account scientific, economic and other factors. He noted that the average incubation period to date has been around five to six days.

“We need to be careful about changing tactics and strategies immediately on the basis of what we’re seeing” about omicron, Ryan said.

Tedros renewed longstanding warnings that “ending health inequity remains the key to ending the pandemic.” He said that missing the target of getting 40% of populations vaccinated this year “is not only a moral shame, it cost lives and provided the virus with opportunities to circulate unchecked and mutate.”

Countries largely missed the target because of limited supply to low-income nations for most of the year and then vaccines arriving close to their expiry date, without things such as syringes, he said.

All the same, “I still remain optimistic that this can be the year we can not only end the acute stage of the pandemic, but we also chart a path to stronger health security,” Tedros said.

ALSO READ-SPECIAL 2022: UN Chief Urges World To Join Covid Fight

Categories
-Top News COVID-19 USA

US: New Year events scaled back, cancelled amid Covid surge

The lightning spread of the new Omicron variant in the country has driven daily Covid-19 new cases to a record high of over 510,000, reports Asian Lite News

As the new Omicron Covid-19 variant is increasing single-day cases to the highest level in the country, major cities, including New York, have scaled-down or cancelled New Year’s Eve events for a second consecutive year.

The fuelling record surges has prompted government to “reinstate travel restrictions, mask mandates and bans on large gatherings”, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Fox News has cancelled “New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast 2022” live broadcast from Times Square, as the network said in a statement issued on Tuesday that “the recent velocity of the spread of Omicron cases has made it impossible to produce a live special in Times Square that meets our standards”.

The annual celebration in Times Square in New York will go on, with attendance capped at 15,000, nearly a quarter of the usual amount.
Attendees will be required to wear masks and show proof of full vaccination.

In California, several Los Angeles County holiday events have been cancelled, including the New Year’s countdown in Grand Park, which will now be streamed.

The Space Needle’s fireworks show in Seattle will also be streamed.
Over the past three weeks, as Omicron-related cases soared in New York City and elsewhere, the number of children hospitalised in New York with Covid-19 quadrupled.

The lightning spread of the new variant has driven daily Covid-19 new cases to a record high of over 510,000, which is the highest single-day increase of cases since the onset of the pandemic in the country, according to latest data of Johns Hopkins University.

The first known case of the Omicron variant in the US was identified on December 1. Since then, the variant has been detected in most US states and territories, and is rapidly increasing the proportion of Covid-19 cases it is causing.

The Omicron variant was estimated to account for 58.6 per cent of coronavirus variants circulating in the US for the week ending December 25, according to new data released Tuesday by the CDC.

Grim new record

The lightning spread of the new Omicron variant in the US has driven daily Covid-19 new cases to a record high of over 510,000.

It is the highest single-day increase of cases since the onset of the pandemic in the country, according to latest data of Johns Hopkins University.

A total of 512,553 new cases and 1,762 new deaths were reported across the country on Monday. Over the past week, nearly 1,660,000 new cases and over 10,000 new deaths were added to the tally, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The 7-day average daily increase of cases reached more than 206,000 on Sunday, according to latest data of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is also the highest figure since January 18.

The Omicron variant, first identified late November in southern Africa, has sent infections soaring to levels not seen since last winter, bringing the total number of US coronavirus cases to more than 52.9 million, with more than 819,000 deaths.

ALSO READ: SPECIAL 2022: UN Chief Urges World To Join Covid Fight

The first known case of the Omicron variant in the US was identified on December 1. Since then, the variant has been detected in most US states and territories, and is rapidly increasing the proportion of Covid-19 cases it is causing.

The Omicron variant was estimated to account for 58.6 per cent of coronavirus variants circulating in the US for the week ending December 25, according to new data released Tuesday by the CDC.

According to the estimate, the prevalence of the Omicron variant had eclipsed that of the Delta variant, which accounted for 41.1 per cent of variants.

Omicron’s surge has prompted more cancellations in travel, sports and other events across the country.

Some states have seen hospitalisations peak amid Omicron surge. The number of children hospitalised with Covid-19 is also rising.

Covid-19 cases among US children are “extremely high and increasing,” according to a latest report of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association.

Over 7.5 million children have tested positive for Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic in the US, representing 1 in 10 American children.

For the week ending December 23, nearly 199,000 child Covid-19 cases were reported, a 50 per cent increase over the weekly new cases in the beginning of December. This marked the 20th consecutive week child Covid-19 cases above 100,000.

Since the first week of September, there have been over 2.5 million additional child cases, according to the AAP.

COVID-19 testing sites across the US have seen unprecedented demand due to the surge in new infections.

ALSO READ: Is the end of Covid pandemic in sight?

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-Top News

Omicron a concern but unlikely to hinder aviation’s 2022 flight

However, the domestic passenger traffic at 104-105 lakh in November 2021, continues to be lower by around 19 per cent compared to the pre-Covid levels…reports Asian Lite News.

India’s aviation sector is expected to maintain its high growth altitude in 2022 on a year-on-year basis, despite fears triggered by the new Omicron Covid-19 variant.

Accordingly, the domestic passenger traffic is expected to inch even closer to the pre-Covid levels, whereas the Omicron variant, while remaining a major concern, might not substantially impact operations.

Lately, passenger traffic has witnessed a strong month-on-month recovery with 10.5 million being carried in November 2021 as compared to 12.3 mn passengers carried in February 2020 (pre-Covid).

As per data, during January-November 2021, the airline players carried 72.4 million passengers, a growth of 30 per cent YoY.

However, the domestic passenger traffic at 104-105 lakh in November 2021, continues to be lower by around 19 per cent compared to the pre-Covid levels.

“With regards to year 2022 as a whole, we should see healthy demand panning out both in the domestic and international market starting from second quarter of the calendar year,” said Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, Director and Practice Leader, Transport and Logistics, Crisil Infrastructure Advisory.

“Impact of Omicron will be felt more in the international traffic and substantially lesser in the domestic circuit. Having said that these are still early days, if the number of cases increases substantially then there could be an impact on non-essential travel even in the domestic routes.”

Post the second wave of the pandemic, overall passenger traffic has witnessed a strong month on month recovery.

Besides, passenger traffic in FY21 had declined to the levels lower than that of FY11 level. It, however, clawed back in FY22.

“We estimate FY22 traffic should be better than FY16 levels of around 85 million. We believe the growth momentum is likely to continue with higher number of offices opening up and employees returning to office; expectations of gradual increase in the business travel. Besides pick-up in in the leisure travels is also likely to ensure healthy demand going forward,” said Rabin Bihani, Senior Analyst, India Ratings and Research.

“Unless there is spike in Omicron or third wave, we believe, demand momentum shall continue to remain healthy. Government has also allowed airlines to operate at 100 per cent capacity now.”

Nonetheless, higher fuel prices will remain a significant challenge for the aviation industry, given that it constitutes for over a third of the revenue.

In 2021, ATF prices have witnessed a substantial increase.

During April-November 2021, average ATF prices have increased by about 80 per cent on a YoY basis.

Israel reports 591 new Omicron cases

Apart from higher fuel prices, competitive intensity is also likely to intensify with a new airline entering the sky and an expected return of an old player.

“Industry earnings are expected to be adversely impacted in FY2022 due to lower revenues and higher ATF costs – Given the onset of Covid-19 2.0, the demand recovery will be delayed for FY2022,” said Suprio Banerjee, Vice President & Sector Head, ICRA.

“Consequently, debt levels are likely to remain high for the industry and are estimated to be range bound at around Rs 1,200 billion (including lease liabilities) for FY2022, with the industry requiring an additional funding support of Rs 450-470 billion over FY2022 to FY2024.”

In addition, Banerjee said the outlook reflects the view that the financial performance of Indian airlines is likely to remain weak as material recovery in passenger traffic to pre-Covid levels is likely to be gradual, following continued restrictions on international travel and subdued demand from the corporate traveller segment.

ALSO READ-Omicron rewrites world records

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COVID-19 Nepal News

Nepal Struggles to Stem Corona

Nepal struggle to reach Covid vaccination target amid Omicron threat

As the threat of the new Omicron Covid-19 variant looms large, Nepal is struggling to vaccinate its targeted population against the virus…reports Asian Lite News

Even though the South Asian country has been receiving a steady supply of vaccines in recent months, it is now struggling to store them and inoculate more of the population due to the lack of adequate storage capacity and necessary human resources, Xinhua news agency quoted officials as saying.

Nepal struggle to reach Covid vaccination target amid Omicron threat

Till date, 32.9 per cent of Nepal’s estimated 30-million population has been fully vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health and Population.

“The level of vaccination is still low amid the Omicron threat,” Sher Bahadur Pun, chief medical officer at the Kathmandu-based Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, told Xinhua.

“I have found that some older people have not been vaccinated for being unwilling to queue in the vaccination centres. Some people are still not aware of the importance of vaccines against the pandemic,” he said.

Nepali health officials acknowledged that the vaccination rate is still low and they are trying to increase the coverage.

“The World Health Organization has advised us to increase the portion of fully vaccinated to 40 per cent of the total population by December and we are reaching close to that level,” said Bibek Kumar Lal, director of the Family Welfare Division at the Department of Health Services.

“We have also rolled out a vaccination campaign for people aged 12-17 after first vaccinating people aged 18 and above.”

Nepal has so far identified three Omicron cases and despite the potential threat, the Himalayan nation cannot double or triple the vaccination rate anytime soon, officials said.

“We have been vaccinating around 250,000 people on a daily basis. Sometimes we inoculated as many as 350,000 people in recent days,” said Sagar Dahal, chief of the country’s National Immunization Program.

“In the past, we vaccinated a maximum of 300,000 people in a day.”

The government is making efforts to expand the vaccination drive that started in late January, he said.

“But we’re facing difficulty in expanding the vaccination drive due to the lack of trained human resources and logistics,” he said, adding that it also takes time to raise public awareness and create momentum for the drive.

“Due to the delayed supply of syringes, the vaccination campaigns were affected in some districts,” said Lal.

“On Thursday (December 23), we received a supply of five million syringes, which will be enough for us to run a vaccination drive for a few weeks. An additional 60 million are also in the pipeline.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020, Nepal has registered a total of 827,271 Covid cases and 11,585 deaths.

In recent months, the country has been reporting new daily cases mostly in 200-300 and new deaths mostly in a single-digit number.

In contrast with those hard times, Nepal has an adequate supply of vaccines for now, and the government aims to vaccinate all the population by mid-April next year.

As of Sunday, the country has received 39.2 million doses of vaccines, with an additional 20 million to be supplied by February next year, according to the Health Ministry.

ALSO READ: Rwanda achieves WHO Covid-19 vaccination target

The country has requested delayed shipments due to a lack of enough refrigeration facilities.

“We have a stock of about 9 million vaccine doses and the storage facility is already stretched,” said Dahal.

According to the official, the existing storage capacity may accommodate an additional 20 million vaccines only.

“So we have asked the companies which are willing to supply extra vaccines to Nepal to delay the shipments till February,” he added.

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Arab News COVID-19 News

Israel reports 591 new Omicron cases

Israel reports 591 new Omicron cases

Israel has reported 591 new cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, according to the country’s health ministry…reports Asian Lite News

It raised the total Omicron cases in Israel from 527 to 1,118, Xinhua news agency qouted the ministry as saying.

Israel reports 591 new Omicron cases

It added that 723 of all the infected are returning passengers from abroad.

The ministry also reported another 861 cases with high suspicion of infection with the variant, but the results of their genomic sequencing tests have yet to be received.

ALSO READ: Israel bans travel to ten more countries over Omicron scare

Meanwhile, the total number of Covid-19 cases in Israel has risen to 1,363,577 after 1,775 new cases were added.

The death toll from the virus in Israel remained unchanged at 8,241, while the number of patients in serious condition increased from 88 to 90.