The United States will lift next week the travel ban imposed on several southern African nations when the Omicron variant of the coronavirus (Covid-19) was first detected, a top official said yesterday.
Countries worldwide curbed travel from southern Africa after the variant was detected in South Africa, which reported Omicron to the World Health Organisation (WHO) on November 24.
The WHO and the United Nations spoke out against the travel bans, and officials in South Africa said they were being punished for identifying the strain and being transparent.
“The restrictions gave us time to understand Omicron and we know our existing vaccines work against Omicron, especially (boosters),” Kevin Munoz, the White House assistant press secretary, said on Twitter.
He said the decision was recommended by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Munoz said that the travel ban would be lifted on December 31.
Reuters reported earlier that US public health agencies had recommended lifting the travel restrictions because retaining them would have not a significant impact on US cases given the widespread current US transmission, confidence that an Omicron-specific vaccine would not be necessary, and that existing vaccines and booster shots are highly effective.
“This travel pause has served its purpose. It bought time to understand the science, it gave time to analyse the variant,” the official, who did not want to be identified because the decision has not yet been made public, told Reuters. “This was not meant to keep Omicron out. We knew we couldn’t do that. The point was to reduce the number of cases coming in – in those early days and weeks.”
Top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci said on Monday that lifting the restrictions was likely “because we have enough infection in our own country ... we’re letting in people from other countries that have as much or more infection than the southern African countries.”
The ban applied to South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi.
Holiday festivities are expected to further drive up Covid-19 cases in the United States where the heavily mutated Omicron variant is pushing some stretched hospitals – and exhausted health workers – to the brink.
Omicron now accounts for more than 90% of all cases in some regions of the country.
The seven-day average of new daily cases is about to pass the Delta peak seen in September, according to non-profit website Covid Act Now.
Intensive care units are running at near-capacity in some states.
US health authorities are banking on vaccinations to lower the number of severe Covid-19 cases, and inoculation numbers have been strong all week.
President Joe Biden also announced this week the purchase of 500mn rapid tests by the federal government.
However, the additional tests are not expected to be available until January.
Infection rates are soaring across South Africa as a result of the Omicron variant, but fewer people have died or required hospital treatment compared to previous waves of Covid-19.
Omicron is known to be far more contagious than previous variants of Covid-19, but appears to cause a less severe illness than its predecessors.