The succession of restrictive measures imposed this Friday (26) against countries in southern Africa due to the discovery of the new variant of the Covid-19 omicron led to a reaction from authorities on the continent.
For Africans, the actions are exaggerated and deeply unfair, punishing even more a region of the planet that is already suffering from the slow application of vaccines against the disease.
In a statement, the African Union Center for Disease Control, a bloc that brings together the continent’s 54 countries, said that travel restrictions were ineffective and that the most appropriate path was to reinforce traditional measures against the spread of the disease: wearing masks , hand hygiene and social distance. In addition to the increase in vaccinations, obviously.
“We strongly discourage travel bans for people from countries that have reported this variant. During the pandemic, we have seen that imposing travel restrictions has not yielded any significant results,” it said.
According to the African Union body, the application of vaccines against Covid-19 remains “the key tool” to prevent serious cases and deaths from the disease. The entity asks that immunization be accelerated, giving priority to high-risk groups.
According to the platform Our World in Data, linked to the University of Oxford, only 10.66% of the African population received at least one dose of the vaccine. Considering complete immunization, the rate drops to 7.13%.
Even in South Africa, one of the richest countries on the continent and where the new variant was discovered, immunization rates are still low compared to the world average. 28.1% of people received a dose, and 23.5% are with the complete vaccination schedule.
This Friday, the South African government complained of being retaliated against by the international community for having been transparent and efficient in detecting the variant.
“Part of the global backlash has been unwarranted,” said Health Minister Joe Phaahla. “I am referring especially to the reaction from countries in Europe, the UK and many others. I have been warned that a large number of countries in the European Union are contemplating a similar reaction.”
Flight restrictions have been announced by the 27-member European Union, the US and several other nations, for travelers arriving from at least seven southern African countries: South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique.
In Brazil, Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) recommended restrictions on passengers arriving from the region. In the evening, the government followed the recommendation.
On Twitter, Brazilian scientist Túlio de Oliveira, who lives in South Africa and was part of the team that sequenced the new variant, asked that there be no discrimination against the population of the region.
“The world needs to support South Africa and Africa, not discriminate against or isolate them,” he wrote.
According to Oliveira, the surveys are being carried out with maximum transparency. “We identified, made the data available and raised the alarm when infections increased. We did this to protect our country and the world, even though we could face massive discrimination.”
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