omicron variant

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Japan Does a 180 on Controversial Omicron Policy

And more on what omicron means around the globe

(Newser) - Update: Just one day after announcing a recommendation that quickly became quite controversial, Japan is changing its tune. The country's transport ministry on Thursday said it was retracting its request that airlines stop taking reservations for people coming in to Japan until the new year, the AP reports. Our ...

Fauci: First Omicron Case Has Been Detected in US

Fauci says person in California returned from South Africa trip on Nov. 22

(Newser) - A person in California is the first in the US to have an identified case of the COVID-19 omicron variant, the White House announced Wednesday as scientists continue to study the risks posed by the new strain of the virus. "This is the first case of COVID-19 caused by...

Shuttered in March 2020, Fiji Celebrates a 'Momentous Day'

Fiji is once again open to tourists, for first time in nearly 2 years

(Newser) - Since March 2020, the island nation of Fiji has had its doors shuttered to tourists, in an attempt to keep COVID from overwhelming the limited medical services available to its 1 million residents. On Wednesday, nearly two years after the tourism-dependent country's shutdown, locals once again started to welcome...

Omicron Was in Europe Before South Africa Raised the Alarm

First cases reported in Brazil, Japan

(Newser) - Brazil and Japan joined the rapidly widening circle of countries to report cases of the omicron variant Tuesday, while new findings indicate the mutant coronavirus was already in Europe close to a week before South Africa sounded the alarm. The Netherlands' RIVM health institute disclosed that patient samples dating from...

BioNTech Founder: Omicron Unlikely to Cause Severe Cases

Ugur Sahin says vaccinated people should have protection against new variant

(Newser) - The seesawing of sentiment on the omicron variant continues. The co-founder of BioNTech, the company that partnered with Pfizer on a COVID vaccine, has weighed in with comments that are relatively optimistic. Ugur Sahin tells the Wall Street Journal that the company's existing vaccine should prevent serious illness among...

Moderna CEO Predicts 'Material Drop' in Vaccine Effectiveness

Dow futures sink on Omicron news

(Newser) - Drugmakers and health officials say we won't know for a few weeks just how bad the omicron variant will be, particularly in regard to the current vaccines. In the meantime, sentiment is seesawing, as reflected in world financial markets. Friday was grim , Monday rebounded , and now Tuesday is shifting...

CDC Strengthens Booster Advice
CDC Strengthens
Booster Advice
Nov 29, 2021 6:07 PM CST

CDC Strengthens Booster Advice

Agency now says everyone over 18 who is eligible should get another shot

(Newser) - While much is unknown about the new omicron COVID variant—including how effective existing vaccines are against it—the CDC is urging people not to take any chances. The agency strengthened its advice Monday to say that people over 18 should get a booster shot, New York Times reports. Earlier...

Couple Arrested After Leaving Quarantine Hotel

They tested positive after arriving in Amsterdam from South Africa Friday

(Newser) - Dutch military police arrested a husband and wife Sunday who had left a hotel where they were being quarantined after testing positive for COVID-19 and boarded a plane to fly home to Spain. A spokeswoman for the local security authority that covers Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport said Monday that an...

New Theme in Omicron Coverage: Missed Promises
New Theme
in Omicron
Coverage:
Missed Promises
the rundown
Nov 29, 2021 2:16 PM CST

New Theme in Omicron Coverage: Missed Promises

Wealthier nations aren't meeting pledges to supply vaccine to developing countries

(Newser) - Stories about the emergence of the Omicron variant frequently point to the same stat: Only about 6% of Africa, where it was first detected, is vaccinated against the coronavirus. As a result, critics are pointing fingers at wealthy nations for failing to fulfill promises to get vaccines to developing countries:...

Biden Shares His Thinking on Omicron
Biden Shares
His Thinking
on Omicron
Nov 29, 2021 11:45 AM CST

Biden Shares His Thinking on Omicron

It's a 'cause for concern, not panic,' president says of new variant

(Newser) - President Biden on Monday spoke about the emerging Omicron variant , calling it "a cause for concern, not a cause for panic." And he reiterated familiar advice from Dr. Anthony Fauci and the White House: Get vaccinated, including booster shots. "Dr. Fauci believes that the current vaccines provide...

More Hopeful Scenarios Emerge on Omicron Variant
Omicron Variant Detected
in North America
the rundown
Nov 29, 2021 6:52 AM CST

Omicron Variant Detected in North America

It's in Canada, though not (officially) in US yet; so far, vaccinated patients are getting mild cases

(Newser) - As health officials around the world watch the Omicron variant, the first wave of headlines about actual patients appears to have a common theme: It's spreading quickly, but not necessarily leading to more severe cases, especially among vaccinated people. Coverage:
  • Early cases: A top Israeli health official, Dr. Sharon
...

South Africa President: Omicron Travel Bans Are Discriminatory

Cyril Ramaphosa says they won't stop the spread, must be lifted now

(Newser) - Travel bans are increasingly being put into place against South Africa amid fears related to the COVID-19 variant newly identified there, and the president of the country is not happy. The bans, which have been implemented in places including the US, Canada, UK, Israel, EU, and Japan, are not backed...

Fauci Says US Could Face 'Fifth Wave' as Omicron Spreads

More cases are detected in several nations

(Newser) - With nations around the world rushing to limit the spread of the latest coronavirus variant, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that the US has "the potential to go into a fifth wave" of the pandemic. The omicron strain, first detected in South Africa, has not been found in the...

2 Planes Flew in From South Africa. 61 People Had COVID

Dutch authorities are now testing passengers to see if they have worrisome omicron variant

(Newser) - Two flights arrived in the Netherlands on Friday, bearing some 600 passengers from South Africa, and also a good number of COVID cases—and those people are now being tested to see if they've got the newly emerging omicron variant . Reuters reports that 61 of the flights' passengers who...

Stories 81 - 94 | << Prev