Omicron: A By-product of Vaccine Inequity.

Byline: Alina Wajid

According to the United Nations specialized agency responsible for international public health, World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 80% of the world's Covid-19 vaccines have been consumed by the rich, Group of Twenty (G20) countries. Meanwhile, the low-income countries, particularly the African states, have only received around 0.6% of these vaccines so far, where millions of vulnerable populations and health workers are yet to receive a single dose. Such conditions can accelerate the spread of Covid-19, eventually leading to creating further mutations of the virus. Omicron serves as the latest example in this regard. First identified in Botswana and South Africa last month, the Covid-19 variant B.1.1.529 (Omicron) has prompted deep concern among researchers, scientists, and public health officials, given its enormously high number of mutations.

On November 26, 2021, WHO designated Omicron as a 'variant of concern,' besides warning about the high global risks it possesses. The variant has spread across every continent except Antarctica as more than half of countries in the world have reported Omicron cases to date. Given the threat of climate change and existent global politics surrounding vaccine distribution, this is regarded as yet another 'difficult' wave of the pandemic. It highlights one of the biggest failures of humanity since there have been no substantial global efforts made to resolve the issue at hand. The point to ponder is that the trend of hoarding vaccines by the rich countries has created ideal conditions for the emergence of Covid variants, including Omicron. For instance, the current situation has exposed the long-existing disparities between the Global North and Global South where the former has all the resources available to fight Covid-19 while the latter struggles with issues such as continuous population growth and poor health conditions (primarily lack vaccines) which makes it easier for the virus to spread. Consequently, as reported by WHO, the more opportunities a virus gets to spread, the more chances it has to mutate and form dangerous variants like Omicron. Here, it is important to note that countries that generally account for the Global North tend to be wealthier, more democratic, less unequal, and technologically advanced when compared to the Global South, which constitutes less-developed states having fragile democracies and a frequent history of being 'colonized' by the Northern...