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Added on the 21/12/2021 23:51:49 - Copyright : AFP EN
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen says the world is in a "race against time" to understand the new Covid variant, calling for precautions to give scientists time to analyse the Omicron strain. She speaks during a visit to Latvia with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg IMAGES
People wait in line in front of St Thomas's Hospital vaccination centre in London the day after Britain recorded 78,610 coronavirus cases, the highest daily total since the coronavirus pandemic began. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pleaded with all Britons to get booster jabs in the face of the spiralling infections. IMAGES
Özlem Türeci, BionTech's Chief Medical Officer says that the coronavirus vaccine developed jointly by BioNTech and Pfizer neutralises the Omicron variant of the virus after three doses. A laboratory study by its makers found "three doses of our vaccine neutralise the Omicron variant", but warned that "two doses show significantly reduce neutralization of this new variant.". SOUNDBITE
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa calls for travel bans to be "urgently" lifted "before further damage is done to our economy". Several countries have implemented travel restrictions to South Africa and other African countries in an attempt to stop the spread of the new Covid variant Omicron. SOUNDBITE
Passengers walk in a terminal at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands after authorities test whether 61 passengers who tested positive for Covid-19 after arriving from South Africa have the new Omicron strain. IMAGES
Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead on the Covid-19 crisis, declares the recently-discovered B.1.1.529 strain of Covid-19 to be a variant of concern, renaming it Omicron. SOUNDBITE
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