i do not want people to panic at this stage. if vaccine effectiveness is reduced, as seems pretty likely to some extent, the biggest effects are likely to be in preventing infections and hopefully there will be smaller effects on preventing severe disease. can we test for it? omicron has a different genetic signature to delta, which often shows up on pcr tests. but only about half of uk labs can pick up this signal. gene sequencing will also help track the spread of the variant here. we all want to know how much of a threat omicron poses, but it will be two to three weeks before science gives us those answers. fergus walsh, bbc news. well, earlier i spoke drjeremy faust who s an emergency physician in health policy and public health at brigham and women s hospital. i asked him to explain what we know and don t know with regards to this latest variant.
vaccines from covax. as it became clear that the supply that we had secured through our bilateral deals with different companies, like astrazeneca, pfizer and moderna would be sufficient for the canadian population, we then pivoted the doses that we had procured from covax to be donated back to covax, so that they could be redistributed to developing countries that needed those doses. the latest warning from the world health organization is that the pandemic will continue deep into 2022. it s urging pharmaceutical companies and wealthy nations to make sure low income countries are now prioritised in the queue for life saving vaccines. naomi grimley, bbc news. for more on this i m joined now by drjeremy faust an emergency physician at brigham and women s
their first dose, and maybe some of that theirfirst dose. but dose, and maybe some of that their first dose. but we now have data also to show that people who have not been vaccinated in this country can be characterised in some degree by what i spoke about a moment ago which is that they don t want it, they haven t been convinced, but there are people who have logistical problems getting out of work, getting transportation, why don t we spend money to get as people their first doses rather than giving people who are effectively worried about legitimate issues like long covid or breakthrough infection but not to the same level of concern that i would have for an elderly person overseas, who has access to zero vaccine at this time. it has been good to speak to you, drjeremy faust. thank you. and you can get much more the coronavirus pandemic on our website there s information about the pledges made by high income countries and actual number of vaccines delivered so far. let s ge