“People are battling a coronavirus that is trying to mutate, and new variants need to be researched quickly and intensively,” said Didier Hussein, head of the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Independent Committee of Independent Experts.
The Emergency Situations Commission today called on the international community to extend the sequencing of the new coronavirus genome, which is more contagious and raises fears of a pandemic resurgence.
At the same time, the Commission, which met on Thursday by teleconference, disagreed “currently” with the introduction of vaccination certificates against Covid-19 as a condition for entry into a country of international travelers.
With regard to the mutated strains of the virus, the Commission calls for global expansion of genomic sequencing and data exchange, as well as greater scientific cooperation to address the “fundamental unknowns” that remain.
It also calls on the WHO to develop a “standard system” for naming new variants that avoids any “stigmatization” geographical or political.
The commission usually meets every three months, but WHO Director-General of the Center Antanom Gebregesus decided to convene it two weeks earlier than planned to discuss specific variants of the new coronavirus, which are more contagious and cause fears of a new outbreak. some countries.
The panel's experts also call for a stronger framework for monitoring the risks associated with the Covid-19 virus variant, speeding up co-operation and harmonizing research.
The highly contagious coronavirus strains first identified in Britain and South Africa are now found in at least fifty countries, in a world flooded with a new wave of infections whose restrictions, bans and vaccination campaigns fail to reduce it. .
According to the WHO, the number of countries and territories where the variant was first identified in Britain is already 50 and 20 of the countries that have identified the variant identified in South Africa, but the WHO considers this estimate to be very likely underestimated. .
These variants can only be identified by the sequence of their genetic code, an analysis that is not possible everywhere.
A third mutation, originating from Brazil in the Amazon and whose discovery was announced by Japan on Sunday, is currently being analyzed and could affect the immune response, according to the WHO, which speaks in its weekly newsletter about “a worrying variant strain “.
With regard to the introduction of vaccination certificates as a prerequisite for entry into a country, the Emergency Committee estimated that “there are still many fundamental unknowns (parameters) regarding the effectiveness of vaccines to reduce transmission (of the virus) and vaccines do not are still available but in limited quantities “.
The Commission emphasizes in its recommendations that a vaccination certificate should not abolish other health precautions.
