Where did ‘weird’ Omicron come from?
Mutations could have accumulated in a chronically infected patient, an overlooked human population, or an animal reservoir
Many global health leaders have used the emergence of Omicron to focus the world’s attention on the huge gap between COVID-19 vaccinations in richer and poorer countries. Richard Hatchett, head of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, opened his remarks at the World Health Assembly on 29 November by saying low vaccine coverage in South Africa and Botswana had “provided a fertile environment” for the variant’s evolution. “The global inequity that has characterized the global response has now come home to roost,” he said....
Mutations could have accumulated in a chronically infected patient, an overlooked human population, or an animal reservoir
- 1 Dec 2021
- 7:00 PM
- By Kai Kupferschmidt
Many global health leaders have used the emergence of Omicron to focus the world’s attention on the huge gap between COVID-19 vaccinations in richer and poorer countries. Richard Hatchett, head of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, opened his remarks at the World Health Assembly on 29 November by saying low vaccine coverage in South Africa and Botswana had “provided a fertile environment” for the variant’s evolution. “The global inequity that has characterized the global response has now come home to roost,” he said....
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