Loop- An escaped prisoner who has been on the run in the British Virgin Islands since the passage of Hurricane Irma in 2017 is now back behind bars.
The Royal Virgin Islands Police Force yesterday arrested and charged Jose Almestica, 33, for escaping lawful custody.
Almestica escaped from Her Majesty’s Prison at Balsam Ghut in 2017 during the passage of Hurricane Irma.
He was arrested in 2016 for illegal possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition and illegal entry. He was on remand for these offences prior to his escape.
The police force says investigations are ongoing, therefore no further information can be released at this time.
Jamaica Observer- Three members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) are now facing possible criminal charges in connection with the December 1 escape of 27-year-old Orville Purnell from the Central Kingston police lock-up.
Observer sources say a corporal and two constables have been captured on closed-circuit television in the jail cell acting in a manner that indicated that they were turning a blind eye to allow Purnell to escape days after he offered $3 million to anyone who could ensure that he was not extradited to St Lucia to answer murder and gun charges.
In a release yesterday the police high command said investigations, including with the aid of technology, continue into Purnell’s escape.
“While the internal investigation is still in the early stages, we can confirm that three JCF members who were on duty on the day in question have been placed on interdiction. We can also confirm that a parallel criminal investigation into this incident has begun,” said the high command in its release.
“Recent media publications have raised the question of whether JCF members have been compromised. As a matter of course, the current investigations under way will naturally probe all possible lines of inquiry. If there are persons who believe they have information that can assist the JCF in this regard, we urge them to call IPROB [Inspectorate and Professional Standards Oversight Bureau] tip line at 876-838-3084,” added the high command.
An obviously embarrassed Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson said that the improved integrity of police lock-ups is critical to the modernisation of the force.
“We have sought to refurbish many police lock-ups across the country, because we treat this function of policing as being critical to improving our ability to keep people safe,” said Anderson.
“Let me make it abundantly clear to the public and to the men and women I lead that this is a matter of accountability that I take very seriously. When people, through negligence or unprofessionalism, cause the name of the JCF to be tarnished, there must be consequences,” added Anderson.He declared that, “while due process will be taken, there must be consequences for the recent escapes of detainees.”
Anderson also indicated that eight other JCF members have been placed on interdiction in relation to two other cases of escape that occurred since the start of this year.
While not providing details of those cases which have been the subject of much speculation in security and media spaces, Anderson said, “As a modern constabulary, we treat the integrity of our facilities and their capacity to securely detain criminal suspects as a matter of greatest importance to effective law enforcement.”
Since the start of 2021 there have been eight incidents of detainees escaping from police lock-ups. Of those incidents the police commissioner indicated that four investigations are far advanced and are the subject of administrative processes.
“IPROB investigations continue into the other four matters, and updates will be provided at an appropriate time,” said Anderson.
Observer sources had reported that Purnell, of Belgium Road, Buff Bay, in Portland, made an offer of $3 million to police personnel and inmates at Kingston Central Police Station to assist in his escape from custody.
But that came after he forked out $50,000 to inmates who were able to convince their cronies to throw cutting implements inside the yard of the police lock-up so that he could cut his way out of the jail.
A special investigation by the Observer has revealed that Purnell boasted, while he was in the lock-up, that he would not be extradited before he successfully escaped last Wednesday, December 1.
Purnell was arrested in Buff Bay on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 by investigators from the police Fugitive Apprehension Team. He was held on a warrant for murder, illegal possession of firearm and ammunition, and escaping custody in St Lucia in August 2020.
According to investigators, Purnell was in custody in St Lucia for the offences; however, he escaped in October 2020 and subsequently fled to Jamaica, where it is believed he had been hiding until his capture.
Purnell is of dark complexion, medium build, and approximately 180 centimetres (5 feet 11 inches) tall. He has several tattoos on both arms. At the time of his most recent escape he sported dreadlocks; however, investigators believe he may cut his locks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is ready to urge participants at the first-ever White House Summit for Democracy to reverse an ongoing “recession” of democracy that is playing out at a time of rising authoritarianism around the globe and…Read More
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Dec 9 (Reuters) – The number of journalists worldwide who are behind bars reached a global high in 2021, according to a new report from the nonprofit Committee to Protect Journalists, which says that 293 reporters were imprisoned as of Dec. 1 this year.
At least 24 journalists were killed because of their coverage, and 18 others died in circumstances that make it too difficult to determine whether they were targeted because of their work, the CPJ said on Thursday in its annual survey on press freedom and attacks on the media.
According to a recent report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 42 journalists have been killed globally this year, as of Dec. 1, 2021.
While the reasons for jailing reporters varies between countries, the record number reflects political upheaval around the world and a growing intolerance of independent reporting, according to the U.S.-based nonprofit.
“This is the sixth year in a row that CPJ has documented record numbers of journalists imprisoned around the world,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon in a statement. “The number reflects two inextricable challenges – governments are determined to control and manage information, and they are increasingly brazen in their efforts to do so.”
According to the latest report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists, a record 293 journalists remain imprisoned as of Dec. 1, 2021 – the highest ever since the organisation started tracking the imprisonment of journalists in 1992.
The journalists who were killed in 2021 include Danish Siddiqui, a Reuters photographer who died in a Taliban attack in Afghanistan in July, and Gustavo Sanchez Cabrera, who was shot and killed in Mexico in June.
China imprisoned 50 journalists, the most of any country, followed by Myanmar (26), which arrested reporters as part of a crackdown after its Feb. 1 military coup, then Egypt (25), Vietnam (23) and Belarus (19), the CPJ said.
According to the latest report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 108 journalists were imprisoned between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1, 2021.
For the first time, the CPJ’s list includes journalists incarcerated in Hong Kong – a byproduct of the 2020 national security law, which makes anything Beijing regards as subversion, secession, terrorism or colluding with foreign forces punishable by up to life in prison.
Mexico, where journalists are often targeted when their work upsets criminal gangs or corrupt officials, remains the Western hemisphere’s deadliest country for reporters, according to the CPJ.
According to a recent report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists, since 1992 and as of Dec. 1, 2021, at least 1,440 journalists have been killed globally.
Reporting by Helen Coster in New York, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien
WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden will gather 111 world leaders in a virtual meeting dubbed the Summit for Democracy, in what Washington hopes will be a boost for global democracy threatened by an increase in authoritarian rulers.
U.S. officials promise a year of action will follow the two-day conference but preparations have been overshadowed by questions over some invitees’ democratic credentials, and complaints from uninvited countries.
Biden will deliver opening remarks on Thursday at 8:00 a.m. (1300 GMT).
The State Department’s top official for civilian security, democracy, and human rights Uzra Zeya said the event would bring together both established and emerging democracies and help them deliver for their people at “a moment of democratic reckoning.”
The conference is a test of Biden’s assertion, announced in his first foreign policy address in February, that he would return the United States to global leadership to face down authoritarian forces led by China and Russia.
Both countries were not invited to this week’s event, which coincides with questions about the strength of America’s democracy. Biden is struggling to pass his agenda through a polarized Congress and after former President Donald Trump disputed the 2020 election result, leading to an assault on the U.S. Capitol, the legislative seat, by his supporters on Jan. 6.
An invitation list published last month included countries whose leaders are accused by human rights groups of harboring authoritarian tendencies, like the Philippines, Poland and Brazil.
It also included Taiwan, stoking anger from China, which considers the democratically governed island part of its territory.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said the invitation of Taiwan showed the United States was only using democracy as “cover and a tool for it to advance its geopolitical objectives, oppress other countries, divide the world and serve its own interests.”
‘LIP SERVICE’
Washington has used the run-up to the summit to announce sanctions against officials in Iran, Syria and Uganda it accuses of oppressing their populations, and against people it accused of being tied to corruption and criminal gangs in Kosovo and Central America. read more
U.S. officials hope to win support during the meetings for global initiatives such as use of technology to enhance privacy or circumvent censorship and for countries to make specific public commitments to improve their democracies before an in-person summit planned for late 2022.
Annie Boyajian, director of advocacy at non-profit Freedom House, said the event had the potential to push struggling democracies to do better and to spur coordination between democratic governments.
“But, a full assessment won’t be possible until we know what commitments there are and how they are implemented in the year ahead,” Boyajian said.
Zeya at the State Department said civil society would help hold the countries, including the United States, accountable. Zeya declined to say whether Washington would disinvite leaders who do not fulfill their pledges.
Human Rights Watch’s Washington director Sarah Holewinski said making the invitation to the 2022 summit dependent on delivering on commitments was the only way to get nations to step up.
Otherwise, Holewinski said, some “will only pay lip service to human rights and make commitments they never intend to keep.”
“They shouldn’t get invited back,” she said.
Reporting by Simon Lewis and Humeyra Pamuk; Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Mary Milliken and Grant McCool
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico, Dec 8 (Reuters) – The United States has returned the first two migrants to Mexico since restarting a Trump-era program to remove asylum seekers from U.S. soil, officials said Wednesday, as the Biden administration grapples with pressure to curb immigration.
The United States and Mexico last week agreed to relaunch the controversial scheme known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) that obliges asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for U.S. immigration hearings, in keeping with a federal court order.
Mexico made the restart conditional on Washington meeting certain criteria, including offering vaccines to asylum seekers and exempting vulnerable people from expulsion.
The first two migrants returned under the revamped scheme entered Mexico at a border crossing in Ciudad Juarez opposite El Paso, Texas, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Mexico.
One of the two men, who identified himself as Enrique Manzanares from Nicaragua, said he felt a little sad, but gave thanks to God that he was still alive.
“In the end, nothing was lost,” Manzanares told Reuters. “Some of us make it, others don’t.”
A Mexican official confirmed the restart, saying it would be limited on Wednesday to just the two migrants.
The IOM said the two people were given COVID-19 tests once they entered Mexico, and that IOM representatives took them to a shelter in Ciudad Juarez that had been approved by U.S. and Mexican authorities.
The United Nations-backed organization also called for MPP to be ended as soon as possible, describing it in a statement as “inhumane and contrary to international law.”
A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)said the Department of Homeland Security began the court-mandated re-implementation of MPP at one location.
“For operational security reasons, DHS is not sharing details such as location of initial returns or number of individuals enrolled,” the CBP spokesperson said.
Once fully operational, MPP returns to Mexico will take place at seven ports of entry in San Diego, Calexico, Nogales, El Paso, Eagle Pass, Laredo and Brownsville, the CBP said.
President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has struggled to reverse many hardline immigration policies put in place by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, and is facing a record number of migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Biden ended MPP soon after his inauguration in January as he sought to pursue what he called a more humane approach to immigration. But a federal judge ruled Biden’s move did not follow proper procedure, and in August ordered MPP reinstated.
Misael Hernandez, a migration expert at Mexican think tank COLEF, said Mexico faced a challenge coping with the new flow of expulsions, with many shelters in the north already struggling to handle increasing numbers of migrant arrivals from the south.
“This is a setback in immigration policy between Mexico and the United States,” he said. “And an example of Trump’s power in Congress and U.S. courts to go against Biden’s promises.”
Reporting by Jose Luis Gonzalez, Daina Beth Solomon and Lizbeth Diaz; Additional reporting by Ted Hesson and Dave Graham; Editing by William Maclean and Cynthia Osterman
Influential Jamaican reggae artist Robbie Shakespeare – one half of the duo Sly and Robbie – has died aged 68.
He died in Florida where he had recently been in hospital for kidney surgery, the Jamaica Gleaner reports.
The prolific bassist and music producer is credited with revolutionising the sound of reggae and dancehall music.
Jamaica’s Culture Minister Olivia Grange announced his death and said Shakespeare was one of the country’s great musicians.
“[Sly and Robbie] took bass playing and drumming to the highest level as they made music for themselves as a group, and for many other artistes locally and internationally,” she said in a statement.
BBC Radio 1Xtra reggae music presenter David Rodigan said Shakespeare “played his bass guitar like nobody else”.
Throughout a career spanning almost 50 years, Shakespeare collaborated with artists as varied as Madonna, Bob Dylan, No Doubt, Peter Tosh, the Rolling Stones and Grace Jones.
Born in Jamaica’s capital Kingston in 1953, he learnt how to play bass under the guidance of Aston Barrett of The Wailers, after they met in Shakespeare’s backyard.
Having already established himself as a talented musician, he teamed up with drummer Sly Dunbar in the mid-1970s. They had various band names, but settled on Sly and Robbie, and became one of the most influential rhythm and production duos in the history of reggae.
Shakespeare helped create the unique sounds heard in Murder She Wrote and Bam Bam – two songs considered some of the most legendary and important in reggae and dancehall.
They also produced music for movie soundtracks, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Poetic Justice.
Shakespeare was nominated for 13 Grammy awards and won two – in 1984 for best reggae recording for Anthem, and then in 1998 for best reggae album for Friends.
Figure caption,
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Last year, Rolling Stone magazine placed him at number 17 on its list of the 50 greatest bassists of all time, saying: “No other musical entity in the post-Marley era has been so omnipresent in shaping the sound of Jamaica and bringing it to the world.”
Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness said on Twitter: “When it comes to Reggae bass playing, no one comes close to having the influence of Robbie Shakespeare.”
Speaking to the BBC in 2005, Shakespeare explained how he came up with the duo’s distinctive bass rhythms.
“Sly might start with a drum tone, and I say: ‘Boy, where the tempo at?’ He say, ‘Ay, nice one, got you, just do your thing,’” he recalled.
“And I might fall in doing my thing – and everything just falls in place.”
NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS — Sensitising teens and young adults to the scourge of gender-based violence was the aim of an event hosted by the Department of Gender Affairs at Lime Beach Bar.
Dubbed “Write Your Own Script,” the activity formed part of the observance of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence which runs from November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to December 10, Human Rights Day.
Hon. Hazel Brandy-Williams, Junior Minister of Health and Gender Affairs in opening remarks explained the rationale for the activity and the difference between last year’s session.
“Last year we had a similar function and we called that one “Flipping the Script,” and it was geared towards women who would have been in abusive relationships and by some stroke of luck, they were able to get out of those relationships and they were spared to speak of their experiences.
“This year we are doing something different. We want to have an early intervention for our young people and to ask them to write their own scripts before they get into abusive relationships,” she said.
The minister told the youths in attendance that the Ministry of Health and Gender Affairs wants them to know their worth and she urged them to stay away from abusive relationships.
“The Ministry of Health and Gender Affairs wants you to know that there is a different road that you can take. You are all very important and you must know your worth. You must know what you want to do in life and where you want your road to take, and it is very important that you allow nothing, absolutely nothing, to derail you from where you want to get and abusive relationships can do just that,” she said.
Mrs. Brandy-Williams assured the youths that in times of difficulty whenever they encounter abuse of any form, they could seek the ministry’s assistance.
“Youngsters, I know that you have big dreams and we are here to assist you to make those dreams reality. The Ministry of Health and Gender Affairs, we are in tune with what’s happening and so we are asking, in any event that you find yourself in a situation where you have to compromise your wellbeing, reach out to someone, have a discussion with someone and I say, the Ministry of Health and Gender Affairs, we present ourselves to be your advocates. We present ourselves to be that person who you can seek help and guidance from…
“I want you to leave from here making a commitment that you will not allow yourself to be pulled into any abusive relationship, no matter what,” she said.
Meantime Ms. Latoya Jeffers, Assistant Secretary in the ministry, while delivering the vote of thanks offered some advice to the youths.
“One of the things I want you to take from this activity is to remember that you have a voice so use it… Your body is your own. No one should tell you that you belong to them. You belong to you. I am telling this to all the young women, young men, girls and boys: your body is your own. We have to break the silence.
“Too long we have sat by and watched things happen to our friends, to our parents, to our neighbours and said nothing. So we are here tonight to start to break that silence. We have to speak out against gender-based violence,” she said.
Ms. Jeffers also encouraged the youths to chart the course of their lives wisely.
“I want you to understand young men, young women, that you decide what you etch on those pages. You have one chance to write your book. You are the authors of your book, your story and you write it the way you want it to turn out. So tonight, I say to all of you, write your own script.
The event was dotted with performances and testimonials from young persons who experienced abusive relationships and lived to tell their stories. Mr. McMillan Cuffy, psychologist at the Mental Health Unit was the guest speaker. Mr. Mario Phillip, Gender Affairs Officer in the department co-chaired the event with Mrs. Pam Martin.
HONG KONG, Dec 9 (Reuters) – The dollar failed to pick up ground on most major peers on Thursday as markets saw optimism in early data hinting the Omicron variant of the new coronavirus may not be as bad as feared, even as new COVID-19 restrictions in Britain hurt the sterling.
The euro was at $1.1338, after gaining 0.7% on Wednesday to a week high of 1.1354, and the Aussie dollar was at $0.7168 just off Wednesday’s week high, after a midweek rally in risk assets such as equities had helped the currency.
MSCI’s all-country world index (.MIWD00000PUS) is back in sight of all-time highs, having had its best day in more than a year on Tuesday and rising further on Wednesday.
Markets were roiled late last week by news of the new strain of COVID-19, which drove investors to safe havens, but have since taken heart from signs that the worst fears may not be realised.
BioNTech and Pfizer (PFE.N) said on Wednesday a three-shot course of their COVID-19 vaccine neutralised the new Omicron variant in a laboratory test, an early signal that booster shots could be key to protection against infection from the newly identified variant. read more
“It’s very ‘virus-on’ ‘virus-off’ in the FX market, and I think we are going to be stuck with this for a while,” said Paul Mackel, global head of FX research at HSBC. “The headline risk associated with Omicron is very high, it’s very confusing, and it’s making the intraday moves fairly volatile.”
Illustrating this, the pound dropped to a year low on Wednesday after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed tougher COVID-19 restrictions in England, ordering people to work from home, wear masks in public places and use vaccine passes. read more
The pound rebounded a little to last trade at $1.3202.
Also on traders’ minds is the U.S. Federal Reserve’s December meeting next week, at which it could announce an acceleration of tapering of its bond-buying programme.
Before the arrival of the Omicron variant, the different paces at which global central banks would raise rates had been the major factor shaping currency markets.
The Canadian dollar was largely unchanged after the Bank of Canada held its key overnight interest rate at 0.25%, as expected, and maintained its guidance that a first hike could come as soon as April 2022, having gained to its highest in around three weeks ahead of the meeting along with higher oil prices.
Bitcoin was about flat on Wednesday at $50,400, after top executives from six major cryptocurrency companies including Coinbase and Circle urged Congress to provide clearer rules for the booming $3 trillion industry. read more
Omicron variant has “robust ability” to evade COVID vaccines, but Pfizer says booster shots “neutralized” it
Johannesburg — South African scientists who’ve been testing the current COVID-19 vaccines against the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus have released some early findings that show the strain has a “robust ability” to evade the immunity offered by inoculation. But, as CBS News foreign correspondent Debora Patta reports, it’s not all bad news.
U.S. vaccine maker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said on Wednesday, meanwhile, that while the standard two-dose regimen of their vaccine was “significantly less effective at blocking the virus,” a booster shot “neutralized the Omicron variant in lab tests.”
The pharmaceutical companies released a statement reporting their latest data as both they and independent researchers race to understand how much of a threat Omicron poses to the world. The news from Pfizer and BioNTech echoed what scientists in South Africa have reported — including that the standard two-dose inoculation “may still induce protection against severe disease.”
Alex Sigal, the researcher behind the latest data from South African trials, said what his team had found was “better than I expected,” showing that Omicron still relies on the same biological mechanism to attack human cells that previous variants have used. That means the current vaccines — which prompt the body to deploy two weapons against COVID-19 that work in different ways, T-cells and antibodies — will still have some effect.
Sigal said in a series of tweets announcing his team’s preliminary data, which has not yet been peer reviewed, that while there was “a very large drop in neutralization of Omicron” seen with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the highly-mutated strain’s “escape” from the vaccine’s protection was “incomplete,” which he said “means its a tractable problem with the tools we got (sic).”
In other words, while the vaccines alone appear to offer significantly less protection against catching the new variant, they’ll still help. Crucially, the vaccines are expected to continue keeping people out of hospitals, even with Omicron, and there’s also information suggesting the new strain may land fewer people in ICUs than previous variants to begin with.
Dr. Mike Ryan, the World Health Organization’s emergencies director, stressed on Wednesday that there was no indication yet that the vaccines would prove less effective at preventing serious illness with Omicron than with previous variants.
“We have highly effective vaccines that have proved effective against all the variants so far, in terms of severe disease and hospitalization,” he told the French news agency AFP. “And there’s no reason to expect that it wouldn’t be so” for Omicron.
Ryan also pointed to early, real-world information coming from South Africa, which suggests that while Omicron is extremely contagious, it does not appear to make people any sicker than Delta or other strains: “If anything, the direction is towards less severity.”
As South Africa heads toward the peak of its fourth wave, one of the country’s leading vaccinologists told Patta that the world doesn’t need to wait for lab results to determine whether Omicron is more deadly, as there’s already data from hospitals, and it’s better news than predicted.
South African health officials are racing to vaccinate people as Omicron spreads fast across the country, but Patta says there has been one notable difference with this wave: It has not been accompanied by the high number of hospitalizations and deaths associated with previous surges in infections from other variants.
When Patta and her team visited a hospital COVID ward six months ago during the country’s deadly third wave, fueled by the Delta variant, it was overwhelmed. ICU beds and oxygen were in desperately short supply.
Today, despite the huge spike in new infections from Omicron, the same hospital is unrecognizable. Their COVID wards are half empty — and the science is backing up the powerful anecdotal evidence.
While the study carried out by Sigal’s team shows the Pfizer shot may be 40 times less effective at preventing Omicron infections, the cases confirmed so far in South Africa have been far milder than those seen during previous waves, according to vaccinologist Professor Shabir Madhi.
“What that tells us is that we’re building up some level of immunity, even against Omicron, which is adequate to prevent the progression from infection to severe disease and death,” said Madhi, a senior researcher who has led many of South Africa’s COVID-19 trials.
What appears to be helping so much is “T-cell immunity.” Unlike antibodies that can prevent a virus from bonding to human cells in the first place, the body’s T-cells, induced by both vaccines and past infections, attack infected cells to prevent the disease from becoming severe.
A health worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty branded COVID-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination site at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa, August 20, 2021. Photographer: Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg/Getty
Madhi said that in Johannesburg, where infections have been surging, over 70% of the population have developed antibodies against COVID-19, and not just from the vaccines.
Vaccination rates remain low in South Africa, but so many people have been previously infected with COVID that there are high levels of natural immunity in the population. Getting there has come at a cost, however. Nearly 90,000 lives have been lost to the disease according to official tallies, but many experts say the real toll is probably closer to 270,000.
Scientists stress that while the current vaccines may not be nearly as effective at preventing infections with the Omicron variant, they are still crucial.
“When people choose not to be vaccinated, they’re more likely to end up in hospital and die of COVID-19,” said Madhi.
South Africa now has enough vaccines for the country, but uptake has slowed down in recent weeks due to apathy and vaccine hesitancy.
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Covid: Vaccines should work against Omicron variant, WHO says
Existing vaccines should still protect people who contract the Omicron variant from severe Covid cases, a World Health Organization (WHO) official says.
It comes as the first lab tests of the new variant in South Africa suggest it can partially evade the Pfizer jab.
Researchers say there was a “very large drop” in how well the vaccine’s antibodies neutralised the new strain.
But the WHO’s Dr Mike Ryan said there was no sign Omicron would be better at evading vaccines than other variants.
“We have highly effective vaccines that have proved effective against all the variants so far, in terms of severe disease and hospitalisation, and there’s no reason to expect that it wouldn’t be so” for Omicron, Dr Ryan, the WHO’s emergencies director, told AFP news agency.
He said initial data suggested Omicron did not make people sicker than the Delta and other strains. “If anything, the direction is towards less severity,” he said.
The new South African study – which has not yet been peer-reviewed – found the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine may result in up to 40 times fewer neutralising antibodies against Omicron than against the original Covid strain.
But Omicron’s ability to escape vaccine antibodies is “incomplete”, said Prof Alex Sigal, a virologist at the Africa Health Research Institute, who led the research.
He said the results, based on blood tests from 12 people, were “better than I expected of Omicron”.
Prof Sigal said vaccination, combined with previous infection, could still neutralise against the variant. That suggests boosters may bring a significant benefit.
Scientists believe previous infection, followed by vaccination or a booster, is likely to increase the neutralisation level and will probably protect people against severe disease.
More data on how well the Pfizer jab works against Omicron is expected to be released in the coming days.
There is no significant data yet on how the Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and other jabs hold up against the new variant.
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Omicron: What are the new Plan B rules for England?
The government has announced new Covid rules for England, in response to concern over the Omicron variant.
It says people should work from home where possible, and will have to show their Covid status for entry to many venues.
What are the new measures for England?
From Friday 10 December, face coverings will be mandatory for most indoor public venues including places of worship, theatres and cinemas, as well as in shops and on public transport.
Masks will still not be needed in hospitality settings such as pubs or restaurants, nor in venues where it is “not practical to wear them” (for instance, where exercise or singing takes place).
From Monday 13 December, people should work from home “if they can”.
From Wednesday 15 December (subject to parliamentary approval), people will need an NHS Covid Pass – or a negative lateral flow test – to gain entry to:
Nightclubs
Indoor unseated venues with more than 500 people
Unseated outdoor venues with more than 4,000 people
a limit of 30 people from different households mixing indoors in domestic settings
face coverings compulsory in shops, indoor seated venues and visitor attractions, public transport and some other settings
post-primary pupils must wear a face covering inside school buildings, as well as on school transport. Staff are encouraged to wear masks in school areas where they can’t socially distance
vaccine passports for venues including nightclubs, bars and cinemas
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