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Cameroon: Eight Dead, Dozens Injured in Crush to Attend Africa Cup Football Match

At least eight people have been killed and dozens more injured in a crush outside an Africa Cup of Nations football match in Cameroon.

Videos showed crowds of screaming football fans being crushed at the entry gates to the Paul Biya stadium in the capital Yaounde.

Witnesses described chaotic scenes outside the ground as thousands of fans struggled to get access.

Of the 38 people who were injured, seven are in a serious condition.

One child is among the dead, according to officials quoted by the AFP news agency.

The stadium has a capacity of 60,000, but because of Covid restrictions it was not meant to be more than 80% full for the game on Monday.

Match officials were quoted as saying that some 50,000 people were trying to attend.

Danish journalist Buster Emil Kirchner told the BBC he saw “a lot of chaos” by the stadium’s gates as fans clamoured to enter the ground.

“It was hectic – people running, people climbing fences, people breaking through the barricades,” he said, adding he saw many people without tickets trying to “force themselves in”.

Journalist Leocadia Bongben told the BBC’s Newsday programme that she saw commotion coming from one of the fan zone areas outside the stadium.

“People started shouting. A minute after that an ambulance came to the stadium, but when we got to the place the police would not allow us to get close to where the stampede was,” she said.

“It’s really quite a sad situation that people go to watch a game and they end up dying there.”

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Nick Cavell, a producer for BBC Africa, was at the match and said news of the crush did not seem to filter through to the crowd until there were reports on social media.

Discarded shoes and other debris was strewn around the entrance of the stadium, he said.

Nurse Olinga Prudence told the Associated Press that some of the injured were in a “desperate condition”.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) said in a statement that it was investigating the situation.

The last 16 match between Cameroon and Comoros took place despite the incident and ended with a 2-1 win for the hosts.

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Pfizer Developing Annual Covid Vaccination, Booster Shot Protection, Reinfection Rate, More

Pfizer Working  on Annual  Covid Vaccination

 

 

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. Source: Twitter.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. Source: Twitter.

(January 23, 2022 / JNS) Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is working on developing a one-shot annual vaccine to replace its current vaccine, which loses its efficacy after three to six months and requires multiple booster shots, company CEO Albert Bourla told Israel’s Channel 12 on Saturday night.

He said that getting jabbed every four or five months “will not be a good scenario” and that having an annual shot, similar to the flu vacccine, “from a public health perspective, it is an ideal situation.”

The CEO noted that Pfizer is still on target to have an Omicron-specific vaccine by March, and that the company is also evaluating other types of offerings, including taking a fourth dose of the existing vaccine, increasing vaccine dosage and even a hybrid Delta-Omicron shot.

“We want to cover all possible scenarios so we can protect, but of course time is ticking,” Bourla said.

Bourla told Channel 12 that while he does not believe the virus will be eradicated but will be “with us for the years to come,” he does expect it to become more manageable, due to the tools developed by Pfizer and others.

“I think we should be able to [live our] normal lives, and only if a variant like Omicron is a really different game, this is when we will have anomalies that we will be able to control in a few months,” Bourla said.

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Booster Shots Offer Protection

New studies released from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday showed that a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine provides robust protection against hospitalization and severe disease.

The findings, while promising, come as the U.S. is seeing a massive spike in infections due to the omicron variant, which is overwhelming hospitals throughout the country.

Cuts emergency department visits: One analysis found getting a third dose of an mRNA vaccine was at least 90 percent effective at preventing COVID-19-associated hospitalization, both during the delta and omicron periods.

A third shot reduced a person’s risk of an emergency department and urgent care visit by 94 percent during delta and 82 percent during omicron.

Fully vaccinated: Despite the findings, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the agency is not changing the definition of fully vaccinated, but will “pivot the language” to focus on being “up to date.”

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Covid reinfection: how likely are you to catch virus multiple times?

Omicron may have affected risk in England, but other factors could include vaccination and severity of previous infection

Anecdotal reports of Covid reinfection in the UK are growing, including people testing positive just weeks apart in December and January, or having had the virus three or even four times. Children are also being seen with reinfections. We take a look at the science behind catching Covid multiple times.

What is a reinfection?

Reinfection figures tend to refer to the detection of a second, or subsequent, Covid infection, regardless of the variant involved. The risk of reinfection is likely to depend on a range of factors: for example, data suggests it is higher in unvaccinated people and potentially in those whose previous infection was more mild with a lower immune response.

It also depends on the variant: one expert said the risk of reinfection with Omicron soon after a first Omicron infection would be lower than Delta followed by Omicron, and how long ago someone was vaccinated. Experts say the dose to which someone is exposed may also be important.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) uses the definition of a possible reinfection as a case 90 days or more after a previous confirmed Covid infection, in part because it excludes those who simply shed the virus for longer after infection.

How many reinfections have there been?
According to the latest figures for England from the UKHSA, from the start of the pandemic up to 9 January this year there were 425,890 possible reinfections, with 109,936 found in the week ending 9 January, accounting for almost 11% of all cases that week.

Very few possible reinfections are “confirmed” as that requires genetic sequencing. What’s more, with few people in the community having access to tests in the first wave, many first infections may not have been counted.

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UK Public urged to sign up for drug trial

Two pills designed to treat Covid have completed clinical trials, but now volunteers are needed for a study into who would benefit the most from the antiviral drugs. Molnupiravir and paxlovid have shown promising results at reducing the risk of serious illness or death. They are part of a UK study which is looking for over-50s and younger people with underlying health conditions to take part.

 

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Haiti: One Dead as 5.3 Earthquake Hits the Ravaged Nation

Reuters- A 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti’s southern peninsula on Monday, the US Geological Survey reported, killing one person and sending panicked residents flooding into the streets in the city of Les Cayes just six months after a major tremor in the same area

The quake’s epicentre was 3km (1.9 miles) from the Anse-à-Veau, near the city of Les Cayes, the USGS reported. It was short but strong, and was felt in the capital of Port-au-Prince, according to a Reuters witness.

Children ran out of school buildings in Les Cayes and “people were terrified,” even though there was no damage, according to one resident. Aftershocks continued to be felt around the country over an hour after the quake hit.

Jean Robert Léger, a resident of the town of Pestel on the southern peninsula, said the impact appeared to be minimal.

“In Pestel, there is not so much damage,” he said by phone. “We see that the houses next to the sea that were already damaged have collapsed some more.”

Haiti’s civil protection chief Jerry Chandler said in a text message that no damage had been reported.

“All reports from the departments mention the panic the tremors caused but no damage thus far,” he wrote.

More than 2,000 people were killed in a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in August that left tens of thousands of homes in ruins and forced many families to sleep outside.

The poorest country in the Americas, Haiti is still recovering from a 2010 quake that killed more than 200,000 people.

 

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Bahamas: Task Force Established to Find Thousands of Missing Students

As schools in the Bahamas reopen today using a hybrid face-to-face learning environment, the Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training has established a committee to find thousands of students who did not attend classes for almost two years.

The task force was announced by Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin in a national address last evening.

She declared that The Bahamas was in an education emergency as the missing students span preschool to grade 12.

 

“The last two years have been unrelenting disruptions in education. The fully virtual learning experience has proven to be difficult for students, teachers and parents,” Hanna-Martin stated.

The task force has been given 14 days to find the missing students.

Representatives from the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development, Office of the Attorney General, the Bahamas Christian Council, Ministry of Health and Wellness, BTVI, National Training Agency, representatives of the Bahamas Educators Managerial Union, Bahamas Union of Teachers, and Bahamas Education Counsellors and Allied Workers Union are on the task force.

Additionally, diagnostic testing will be done on all students to determine the extent of learning loss.

Hanna-Martin announced that Learning Recovery Committee was established “to provide recommendations and develop strategies for appropriate responses and learning recovery programs, based on the extent of learning loss of each child.”

The government has also commissioned the University of The Bahamas to conduct a study to identify causative factors for learning outcomes.

Since taking office in September 2021, Hanna-Martin has been trying to find ways to help Bahamian students affected by learning loss.

She said the government will do all in its power to keep schools open since it is the best way for students to have equal access to education.

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Cruise Company Goes Bust, Leaves 700 Florida Bound Passengers and Crew Stranded in Bahamas

MailOnline- A cruise ship with 700 passengers and crew has diverted from its scheduled port call in Miami to flee from a warrant to impound the vessel over $1.2 million in unpaid fuel bills.

The Crystal Symphony, which was scheduled to return to Miami on Saturday to end a 14-day Caribbean cruise, instead veered off to Bimini in the Bahamas, where it docked on Saturday night.

Elio Pace, a British musician performing aboard the Crystal Symphony, told DailyMail.com that there were about 300 passengers aboard the ship as well as 400 crew, a staffing ratio that reflects the struggle of cruise lines to attract passengers in the pandemic

Crystal Cruises’ parent organization, Genting Hong Kong, had filed to wind up the company, warning that it will ‘imminently be unable to pay its debts as they fall due.’

Now, the passengers are scrambling to re-book their onward travel after their arrival in south Florida was delayed by at least a day,  and the crew are facing the grim prospect of losing their jobs as the cruise line’s parent company faces liquidation.

‘Every one of these people are trying to reschedule their flights,’ said Pace, who said that the crew had done their best to keep guests informed and comfortable as the bizarre events unfolded. ‘There’s no panic, there’s no tantrums going on, they’re taking it in their stride.’

The Crystal Symphony is seen docked in Bimini on Saturday night after diverting from its scheduled call in Miami to avoid an arrest warrant under admiralty law over unpaid fuel bills of $1.2 million

The Crystal Symphony is seen docked in Bimini on Saturday night after diverting from its scheduled call in Miami to avoid an arrest warrant under admiralty law over unpaid fuel bills of $1.2 million

Elio Pace, a British musician performing on board the Crystal Symphony, told DailyMail.com that there are currently about 300 passengers aboard the ship, which can carry up to 900, as well as 400 crew

Elio Pace, a British musician performing on board the Crystal Symphony, told DailyMail.com that there are currently about 300 passengers aboard the ship, which can carry up to 900, as well as 400 crew

Instead of returning to Miami as scheduled, the cruise ship diverted to Bimini, where passengers will take a ferry to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday morning

Instead of returning to Miami as scheduled, the cruise ship diverted to Bimini, where passengers will take a ferry to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday morning

The Crystal Symphony left Miami on January 8 for its two-week cruise, and everything unfolded smoothly until Wednesday, when Crystal Cruises unexpectedly announced that it was suspending operations at least through April.

Malaysian tycoon Lim Kok Thay controls the Genting Group

Malaysian tycoon Lim Kok Thay controls the Genting Group

‘This was an extremely difficult decision but a prudent one given the current business environment and recent developments with our parent company, Genting Hong Kong,’ said Jack Anderson, Crystal’s president, in a statement on the decision to cease all cruises.

Pace told DailyMail.com that the news stunned the passengers and crew, but that operations continued as normal, and that he even delivered his musical performance as scheduled.

‘That was quite extraordinary, to be in a position to have to perform to people, with them knowing the cruise line has gone into liquidation,’ he said. ‘This was a shock to everybody when we got the announcement on Wednesday.’

Nearly concurrent with Genting Hong Kong’s filing to unwind, fuel supplier Peninsula Petroleum Far East filed a complaint in Florida seeking an arrest warrant for the Crystal Symphony under US admiralty law.

Crystal Cruises' parent organization, Genting Hong Kong, has filed to wind up the company, warning in the filing that it will 'imminently be unable to pay its debts as they fall due'

Crystal Cruises’ parent organization, Genting Hong Kong, has filed to wind up the company, warning in the filing that it will ‘imminently be unable to pay its debts as they fall due’

Peninsula alleged that Genting’s subsidiaries had reneged on a total of $4.6 million in fuel payments, with $1.2 million alone attributed to the Crystal Symphony.

On Friday, Judge Darrin Gayles of the U.S. District Court in Southern Florida approved the warrant, and the Crystal Symphony now faces impoundment if it enters any US port.

Instead of continuing to Miami as planned, the ship veered east to Bimini. The Genting Group owns Resorts World Bimini, and the Crystal Symphony is flagged in the Bahamas.

The diversion came as a shock to passengers, said Pace, who boarded the ship on Tuesday and had expected to continue delivering guest performances through next month.

Now, the passengers are waiting overnight for a ferry to arrive at 8.30am on Saturday, to take them on a two-hour trip to Fort Lauderdale.

‘For me it’s a headache, but for the crew, for the staff, the brilliant staff of this gorgeous luxury liner, I feel more sorry for them,’ Pace said. ‘I’m put out, but they’ve lost their jobs for the foreseeable future.’

Pace put the blame for the fiasco squarely on the Genting Group, which is part of a bigger conglomerate that also includes Genting Malaysia and Genting Singapore.

The company, controlled by Malaysian tycoon Lim Kok Thay, has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But Pace questioned why the ownership group couldn’t pay what they owed or face the consequences in Miami, in order to avoid the massive inconvenience to their guests.

‘They can afford to look after these people,’ he said. ‘On a human level, why do people behave like this, why can’t they help?’

‘I can’t understand why these multi-billionaires don’t care, they just don’t care,’ he added.

The Genting Group owns the Resorts World leisure park chain as well as 30 casinos across the U.K.

The company’s finances were tipped into ruin after the German government this week rejected its request to draw a $88 million backstop facility related to the MV Werften shipyard in northeastern Germany.

German officials blamed Genting for refusing to contribute 10 percent to a $678 million bailout plan that would protect 1,900 jobs at the shipyard.

The shipyard filed for bankruptcy, and the events triggered the insolvency application Monday of another shipyard it owns in Germany, Lloyd-Werft in Bremerhaven.

Genting reported a $238 million net loss for the period ending June 2021, as compared to a $742.6 loss million for the same period in 2020.

Genting Hong Kong reportedly halted payments on debts of almost $3.4 billion in 2020.

‘The Company and the Group have no access to any further liquidity under any of Group’s debt documents and the Company’s available cash balances are expected to run out on or around end of January 2022 according to the Company’s cashflow forecasts,’ Genting said in its Wednesday filing.

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WORLD VIEW: EU, US Gear Up for Russia-Ukraine Invasion, More Floyd Cops on Trial, Afghanistan Tragedy, More

Jan. 24, 2022

Alternate text
  • NATO is putting extra forces on standby and sending more ships and fighter jets to Eastern Europe as Russia continues its troop buildup near Ukraine.
  • The U.S. State Department has ordered the families of all American personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine to leave the country amid heightened fears of a Russian invasion.
  • And for a deeper understanding of the crisis over Ukraine, an analysis by John Daniszewski, an AP vice president and expert on Eastern Europe, explains how it’s nothing less than a showdown of two world views that could upend Europe.
  • The crisis, Daniszewski writes, carries echoes of the Cold War and resurrects an idea left over from the 1945 Yalta Conference: that the West should respect a Russian sphere of influence in Central and Eastern Europe.
  • Trial set to begin for three former cops charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights
  • As winter deepens, a grim situation in Afghanistan is getting worse
  • Democrats make surprising inroads in redistricting fight

Vanessa Gera

Warsaw Correspondent

The Associated Press

 

The Rundown

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BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union foreign ministers are aiming to put on a fresh display of resolve and unity in support of Ukraine on Monday, amid deep uncertainty about whether President Vladimir Putin intends to attack Russia’s neighbor or send his…Read More

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NEW YORK (AP) — The crisis in Ukraine is hardly going away — a showdown of two world views that could upend Europe. It carries echoes of the Cold War and resurrects an idea left over from the 1945 Yalta Conference: that the West should respect a Ru…Read More

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department on Sunday ordered the families of all American personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine to leave the country amid heightened fears of a Russian invasion. The department told the dependents of staffers at the U…Read More

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The federal trial for three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights as Derek Chauvin pinned the Black man’s neck to the street is expected to begin Monday with opening statemen…Read More

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WASHINGTON (AP) — As winter deepens, a grim situation in Afghanistan is getting worse. Freezing temperatures are compounding misery from the downward spiral that has come with the fall of the U.S.-backed government and the Taliban takeover. …Read More

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NEW YORK (AP) — Democrats braced for disaster when state legislatures began redrawing congressional maps, fearing that Republican dominance of statehouses would tilt power awa…Read More

BEIJING (AP) — Authorities have lifted a monthlong pandemic lockdown on the northern Chinese city of Xi’an and its 13 million residents. The announcement Monday followed the …Read More

People who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 are no longer allowed in France’s restaurants, bars, tourist sites and sports venues unless they recently recovered from the viru…Read More

TOKYO (AP) — French fashion designer Manfred Thierry Mugler, whose dramatic designs were worn by celebrities like Madonna, Lady Gaga and Cardi B, has died. He was 73. He died …Read More

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Jamaica: 2nd Court Date for Haitian Senator Accused in Moise Killing

Former Haitian senator John Joel Joseph who was accused in connection with the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, has received a second court date for February, according to his attorney, Donahue Martin.

Joseph, his wife and two children appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court in Jamaica on Thursday and were remanded until February 15th.  They were arrested in a pre-dawn police operation on January 15th, in Warminster District, St Elizabeth.  At the time of the arrest the family was occupying two houses  in the rural community.

Martin told the Jamaica Observer that: “The indication to the court was for discussions to be had,”  adding that “I can’t comment beyond that.

“The matter has some amount of sensitivity to it and as a result my comments have to be very limited”.

Joseph is the second suspect to be arrested in Jamaica. He arrived here illegally by boat last December, along with his family members and is one of three key suspects who were being sought by law enforcement authorities in Haiti.  Joseph is an opponent of the Tet Kale party to which Moïse belonged.

Last October, Jamaican authorities arrested former Colombian soldier Mario Antonio Palacios Palacios, who was detained in Panama after being denied permission to remain in Jamaica. There is no extradition treaty between Haiti and Jamaica

Palacio was recently extradited to the United States and has been being charged with conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States and with providing material support resulting in death, knowing or intending that such material support would be used to prepare for or carry out the conspiracy to kill or kidnap.

Moise was killed at his private residence on July 7 last year and more than 40 people, including 18 former Colombian soldiers, have been arrested in connection with the assassination.

On Thursday, the United States Department of Justice said that a dual Haitian-Chilean citizen had been arrested on charges of his alleged involvement in the assassination.

In a statement, the DOJ said that Rodolphe Jaar, 49, had been charged with conspiring to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States and providing material support resulting in death, knowing or intending that such material support would be used to prepare for or carry out the conspiracy to kill or kidnap.

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Nova Scotia: Prince Andrew High School to be Renamed

By Paul P. Murphy, CNN

 

Prince Andrew High School in Dartmouth will be renamed based on submissions from the general public and students. The regional center for education will have final approval.

(CNN)The Prince Andrew High School in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, will be renamed as the sex abuse civil case against the British royal continues moving forward in the United States, school officials say.

“We are changing the name to move in a different direction due to the negative reports about Prince Andrew,” school principal Craig Campbell told CNN in an email. “We hope to build our identity as a positive, supportive school community with a name to match.”
Local residents will have a chance to submit name suggestions to a six-person renaming committee that includes students, staff and community members. The top three names will then be recommended to the Halifax Regional Centre for Education, which will have final approval.

Prince Andrew still has options in his sex abuse civil case. But none look good.

Prince Andrew still has options in his sex abuse civil case. But none look good.
The school’s decision follows a ruling from a New York judge earlier this month that a civil lawsuit against Prince Andrew may move forward.
The 61-year-old royal is being sued by Virginia Giuffre, who alleges she was trafficked by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and forced to perform sex acts with the prince at the age of 17. Prince Andrew has vigorously denied those claims.
The allegations against the prince have tarnished his public standing and prompted other members of the royal family to distance themselves from the Duke of York.
Most recently, Prince Andrew was stripped of his honorary military titles and charities. A royal source confirmed to CNN’s Max Foster Prince Andrew will also no longer use the style “His Royal Highness” in any official capacity.
The Canadian school joins a lengthy list of institutions that have decided to remove ties to controversial namesakes in recent years.
Across the United States, school boards and districts have opted to find new names for schools named after Confederate leaders or other public figures — such as actor Bill Cosby, who saw his name removed from buildings, workshops and a professorship as a criminal trial against him unfolded.

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Mexico: 3,000 Illegal Migrants Found in 2 Days

MEXICO CITY, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Mexican officials found more than 3,000 migrants in the country illegally over the past 48 hours, the government’s National Migration Institute (INM) said on Sunday.

The largest groups made up 380 migrants found in the western Gulf Coast state of Veracruz, with one group located in a tour bus and another group found in a trailer, the INM said.

Another 319 migrants were part of a caravan that got lost after departing from the southern city of Tapachula with the goal of reaching the United States. More than two dozen migrants were also found inside an imposter ambulance with fake logos in the state of Oaxaca, the statement said.<

Some of the migrants were from Central America, the INM said.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has been struggling to address an increase in migrants, mostly from Central America, arriving at the U.S. border with Mexico. U.S. immigration officials faced the highest illegal border crossings in two decades during Biden’s first year in office.

Reporting by Mexico City newsroom Editing by Chris Reese

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Omicron May Be Peaking, World Stats, More

Omicron could be peaking in the US — but experts urge caution

By Peter Sullivan

A downtick in COVID-19 cases is raising hopes that the omicron wave has peaked in the United States.

To be sure, new case numbers remain high and hospitals are still overwhelmed in many areas. But, especially in the earliest hard-hit states like New York and Massachusetts, cases are clearly declining, and experts say cases appear to have peaked on a national basis as well.

The U.S. seven-day average of new cases fell from about 798,000 on Jan. 15 to about 744,000 on Jan. 19, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, the first downturn since mid-December, when the highly transmissible omicron variant took hold and cases began a rapid spike.

“I think we’ve turned the corner,” said Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at the University of California-San Francisco.

While cases may be falling nationally and in early hit states, experts caution that the U.S. is a large country and some areas, such as Western states like Montana and Wyoming, may take longer to peak.

They also caution that hospitalizations and deaths are lagging indicators — meaning they could continue to rise for a few weeks after cases begin to fall. There are a record 160,000 people hospitalized with the virus, according to a New York Times tracker, and about 2,000 people dying every day from it.

“It’s wall-to-wall stretchers; we have no capacity left at the hospital,” Robert Jansen, the chief medical officer at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, said at a media briefing this week.

In a few weeks, once hospitalizations have time to fall as well, the U.S. could be in a much better place.

“By mid-February, there are going to be many areas that honestly seem strangely normal,” said David Rubin, director of the PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky noted during a press briefing Friday that “overall nationally the case numbers are coming down, which I consider an optimistic trend.”

The possible national peak in omicron cases comes as the Biden administration has begun rolling out additional measures that experts have been pushing for months, like free N95 masks and a website to order free rapid tests.

Those tools could finally become more widespread after the worst of the omicron wave has already passed.

“There’s a metaphor here which involves horses and stable doors,” said William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “It should have been done way in the past.”

Gandhi said once the omicron wave passes, the country could enter a more “endemic” phase of the virus, in which it continues to exist but no longer poses a crisis affecting every day life, and widespread masking and testing among the general public are no longer needed.

Because so many people will have been infected with omicron, on top of the immunity provided by vaccines and boosters, the population will have far greater immunity coming out of this wave. Experts still stress that it is far better to never be infected at all, and get immunity through vaccines and boosters, rather than getting sick.

Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said that whether there is another major spike from a new variant in the future will depend on to what extent the next variant can evade the immunity many Americans have built up.

He said the worst-case scenario is “a variant that’s so different that it eludes the accumulation of the immune protection that we’ve gotten from vaccinations and from prior infections.”

“I hope that doesn’t happen; I can’t give you a statistic of what the chance of that happening [is], but we have to be prepared for it,” he added. “So we hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”

Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, wrote in The Lancet this week that more than 50 percent of the world could be infected with the omicron variant by the end of March.

The combination of this immunity, plus vaccines that can be adapted to new variants and new antiviral treatments, will lead to a new phase of the virus, he writes.

“The era of extraordinary measures by government and societies to control SARS-CoV-2 transmission will be over,” he writes. “After the omicron wave, COVID-19 will return but the pandemic will not.”

Experts have been calling for months, though, for greater efforts to vaccinate the world, as the best way to ensure that a new dangerous variant that can elude immunity does not emerge.

More than 80 Democratic lawmakers last month called for $17 billion for global vaccinations and other efforts to fight the virus around the world in a coming government funding package.

The fact that the omicron variant tends to cause less severe disease on average also helped avoid an even greater crisis that would have occurred if it was as severe as the delta variant.

“Had Omicron been Delta and had we had fewer vaccinations we’d be seeing 8,000 deaths/day, may be more,” tweeted Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, who noted cases nationally have now “likely peaked.”

“As [the] Omicron surge ebbs and life returns back to more of a normal let’s use that time to prepare to more effectively manage future variants and surges,” he added.

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