Ómicron is not Armageddon  - The initial reaction was panic. The world's major stock exchanges fell. Dozens of countries began to close their air borders to flights from the southern African cone. The variant was identified as B.1.1.529. It was christened "Ómicron" by the World Health Organization. That was not the Greek letter that corresponded to it, because there were two previous letters that were discarded due to phonetic problems, one because it resembled the English word that means "new", and the other, because of its similarity to a very common surname in China.

Although the Omicron was discovered in South Africa by Dr. Angelique Coetzee, its origin is not clear, since samples prior to the discovery made in South Africa have been found in the Netherlands.

The variant was discovered by Coetzee as fast contagious and with many mutations on the Delta variant, currently dominant in the world.

If Ómicron is proven to come from Africa, it would be the clearest confirmation of the high cost of the selfishness of developed countries that, like the European Union and the United States, accumulated their vaccines, and in some cases had to destroy tens of millions of doses, due to the proximity to its expiration date.

These countries preferred to guarantee coverage beyond their entire population than to contribute to vaccination in the poorest countries on the planet.

According to BBC  World News, Ayoade Olatunbosun-Alakija, director of the African Alliance for the delivery of vaccines, said that this situation "... is the inevitable result of hoarding vaccines and leaving Africa out."

A Global Problem
The Covid-19 pandemic is a global problem, so we will only get out of it globally.

Science is still unclear on the Omicron variant and its true effects. Even if it were as dangerous and virulent as it looks, we have an arsenal of knowledge and capabilities that we did not have two years ago when the pandemic began:

1-) Science already knows how to deal with the pandemic, and that knowledge is handled perfectly by health personnel

2-) Citizens know how to take care of contagions with physical distancing, masks, masks, personal hygiene measures and gallons of alcoholic gel

3-) Vaccination against Covid-19 works very well. According to Dr. Eduardo Ortega, secretary of the Senacyt, 90% of those who died from Covid-19 - since January 20 of this year - were not vaccinated. If you add the booster dose to it, the armor is great.

The Omicron variant, and any others that appear in the future, are the reminder that we must continue to vaccinate the population and insist on the mandatory nature of this requirement for more segments of the inhabitants of this country.

Public servants should be fully vaccinated, as should health personnel, including those in the private sector. Those prerogatives of the State such as scholarships, subsidies or solidarity bonds, must be conditioned to vaccination.

Currently there are 300,000 Panamanians who have the first dose and not the second; the National Authority for Government Innovation knows who they are. You have to communicate with them and let them know your pending obligation. Children will soon be able to be vaccinated against Covid-19 from the age of five. This should be a requirement to enter schools and receive other social benefits.

Advanced science in the most developed countries can create a new vaccine against the Omicron variant in a few months. If it is necessary to apply this vaccine, the entire process known to date could well be repeated. Even if we have Covid-fatigue, if it is necessary to repeat this process for each dangerous variant that arises, so be it.

Once the real scope of the Ómicron variant is known in the coming weeks, the government of President Laurentino Cortizo will have to make highly relevant decisions. It is time to announce that there will be no carnivals and that vaccination is mandatory for everyone in the country.

I add that those who do not want to be vaccinated go to a notary's office and make a sworn statement in which they reiterate that they did not want to be vaccinated, and when they get sick, present it at the hospital of their choice, so that the health personnel do not lose the time serving them. Those beds in the wards and intensive care units are deserved by other people who could not prevent their illness. -- RODRIGO NORIEGA, - La Prensa.