Worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be a forgotten history and a foregone conclusion. It ravaged the world on all economic, political, social, and health fronts. All facets of life were affected by the resurgence of the COVID-19 virus. South Africa suffered the lion’s share of the consequences faced by humankind. It had its own experiences with COVID-19, and Omicron is yet another one. As of January 12, 2022, South Africa clocked 3,534,131 cases of infections, 3,298,672 recoveries and 92,649 deaths. Although the positivity rate is low, the death rate gravitating towards the 100,000 mark is alarming because the loss of even one person due to COVID-19 is a threat to humankind. The mutation of COVID-19 in various forms, first with the Beta, followed by the Delta and Omicron variant—which was detected in November 2021—made it worse. By far, while the Delta variant was virulent, the Omicron is more transmissible. South Africa took this seriously by strengthening compliance with the COVID-19 protocols, especially in public gatherings.
South Africa was the first to discover the Omicron variant detected by the South Africa Network for Genomic Surveillance. The Omicron variant appears poised to take over the world, as Delta did before. Although the Omicron variant is not deadly as compared to Delta, it accounts for 90% of COVID-19 cases in South Africa and is a growing problem in Europe due to its high transmissibility rate. Speaking in Ghana as part of his visit, the President of South Africa Mr Cyril Ramaphosa said: “Our hospital admissions are not increasing at an alarming rate, meaning that while people are testing positive, they are not admitted in large numbers into hospitals. For that reason, I say we should not panic because it is possible that while Omicron is more virulent and it spreads, it does not seem to result in a more significant number of admissions, so we should take heart from that”.
The Omicron variant in South Africa has proven to have a lower risk of hospitalisation, and this is a sigh of relief as it necessitated the South Africans to go through the 2021 local government elections physically without panic. The political parties’ campaigns on the streets of South Africa preceded the 2021 successful local government elections, and the surge was under control. The South Africans crossed over into 2022, promising to be a productive. The year 2022 is lined up with activities, but that does not mean that South Africa should be relaxed and insensitive about the COVID-19 pandemic.
As South Africa brought to global attention the Omicron variant, what it deserved was to be congratulated for its efforts. However, South Africa received a raw deal from Europe, which imposed hasty travel restrictions against Southern Africa. The United Kingdom government, for example, immediately halted all flights from Southern Africa. Consequently, it suffered economic loss as seen to be an Omicron variant carrier. The travel bans in Europe were no good for South Africa as Southern Africa suffered financial blows because of its ability to detect the Omicron variant. Due to travel bans and subsequent restrictions, South African travel and tourism took a substantial knock in December 2021 as bookings dropped by 85%. Political leaders, social activists, and the Airport Association of Southern Africa condemned the United Kingdom decision to place South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, and Eswatini on its Red List. The World Health Organisation cautioned countries imposing travel restrictions because of Omicron resurgence. The travel restrictions strained the South African economy and threatened diplomacies and multilateral trade agreements.
Booster Shots and Rising Vaccine Hesitancy
Another problem posed by the COVID-19 and its variants is vaccination. While the population in South Africa is slowly heeding the call to vaccinate, what is even more confusing is not the primary first and second vaccination jabs but the vaccine booster doses that are required to complement the primary vaccinations. It implies that a person can be vaccinated several times against new variants. Vaccine boosters should be taken each time there is a new variant, but this is not sustainable. Therefore, it is concerning as it increases vaccine hesitancy in South Africa. In the end, it will be insensible and challenging to cope with primary vaccinations and booster doses to react against every specific variant that comes to the fore. The World Health Organisation clarified that third doses should be prioritised for the vulnerable—those most at-risk populations when there is evidence of waning immunity against severe disease and death. However, the assertion that the third dose—the vaccine is not for the ‘healthy and fit’ leaves many ambiguities about the vaccination quality.
Worse, the move by most South African universities to introduce mandatory vaccination fuelled exclusions in the education sector. There are mixed reactions about mandatory immunisation in South Africa that borders on violation of human rights of others on the one hand and the safety of the broader public on the other hand. Therefore, there is no conclusive stance about mandatory vaccination in South Africa.
In conclusion, the three variants (Beta, Delta, and Omicron) emanating from the COVID-19 are unimaginable. They show that COVID-19 will stubbornly stick around in society for far too long because of inconceivable mutations and a lack of long-lasting solutions. The experience dictates that lockdowns do not resolve the super spread of COVID-19. Instead, they hamstring the economy. The National Coronavirus Command Council, chaired by President Cyril Ramaphosa, took the warning seriously by not launching a hard lockdown due to the resurgence of the Omicron variant.
As we advance in 2022 and beyond, the emerging variants require vigilance and superb surveillance to trigger timely and long-lasting interventions to protect the community from the super spread of the COVID-19 variants and infections.
The article was first published in ORF
Modimowabarwa Kanyane is Executive Dean, Faculty of Management, Commerce & Law, University of Venda, South Africa. The views expressed in the article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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