Biden’s decision late last week to ban travel from eight southern African countries is unlikely to curb the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, an epidemiologist warns, and could even be counterproductive.
“By the time you detect one variant another is already circulating under the radar somewhere,” Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, one of the leading scientists who helped design the genetic sequence for the Moderna vaccine, tweeted late last week. “So with a mix of surveillance lags, low vaccine uptake, inequitable vaccine access,Dr. Anthony Fauci at a daily briefing at the White House on Wednesday.
“In general, evidence shows that restricting the movement of people and goods during public health emergencies is ineffective in most situations and may divert resources from other interventions,” the WHO argued in a February 2020 report. “Furthermore, restrictions may interrupt needed aid and technical support, may disrupt businesses, and may have negative social and economic effects on the affected countries.
. “The only thing the prohibition on travel will do is to further damage the economies of the affected countries and undermine their ability to respond to and also to recover from the pandemic.”
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