Two other sub-variants of Omicron, the BA.2.12.1 and the BA 2.12.2, have also been detected in two returnees for the first time in New Zealand from travelers arriving in April, said the ministry, as per ANI.
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Vaccines stop variants but overseas travel still not safe: WHO
AFP/Copenhagen
A woman receives Covid vaccine in India. AP
WHO senior official says all Covid-19 variants can be controlled with the same public health and social measures used until now
Progress against the coronavirus pandemic remains “fragile” and international travel should be avoided, a World Health Organisation director warned on Thursday, while stressing that authorised vaccines work against variants of concern.
“Right now, in the face of a continued threat and new uncertainty, we need to continue to exercise caution, and rethink or avoid international travel,” WHO’s European director Hans Kluge said, before adding that “pockets of increasing transmission” on the continent could quickly spread.