Emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern Omicron (B.1.1.529) - highlights Africa's research capabilities, but exposes major knowledge gaps, inequities of vaccine distribution, inadequacies in global COVID-19 response and control efforts

• Eskild Petersen,
• Francine Ntoumi,
• David S Hui,
• Aisha Abubakar,
• Laura D. Kramer,
• Christina Obiero,
• Paul Anantharajah Tambyah,
• Lucille Blumberg,
• Richard Yapi,
• Seif Al-Abri,
• Tatiana de Castro Abreu Pinto,
• Dorothy Yeboah-Manu,
• Najmul Haider,
• Danny Asogun,
• Thirumalaisamy P. Velavan,
• Nathan Kapata,
• Matthew Bates,
• Rashid Ansumana,
• Chiara Montaldo,
• Luchenga Mucheleng'anga,
• John Tembo,
• Peter Mwaba,
• Cordelia M. Himwaze,
• Muzamil Mahdi Abdel Hamid,
• Sayoki Mfinanga,
• Leonard Mboera,
• Tajudeen Raj,
• Eleni Aklillu,
• Francisco Veas,
• Sarah Edwards,
• Pontiano Kaleebu,
• Timothy D. McHugh,
• Jeremiah Chakaya,
• Thomas Nyirenda,
• Moses Bockarie,
• Peter S Nyasulu,
• Christian Wejse,
• Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum,
• Esam I. Azhar,
• Markus Maeurer,
• Jean B. Nachega,
• Richard Kock,
• Giuseppe Ippolito,
• Alimuddin Zumla

Affiliations

Eskild Petersen

European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Emerging Infections Task Force, ESCMID, Basel, Switzerland; Institute for Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark; European Travel Medicine Network, Méditerranée Infection Foundation, Marseille, France; Corresponding author: Professor Eskild Petersen: European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Emerging Infections Task Force, ESCMID, Basel, Switzerland; Institute for Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark; European Travel Medicine Network, Méditerranée Infection Foundation, Marseille, France.

Francine Ntoumi

Fondation Congolaise pour la Recherche Médicale (FCRM), Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; Institute for Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Germany

David S Hui

Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong

Aisha Abubakar

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria

Laura D. Kramer

School of Public Health, State University at Albany, Albany, New York, USA

Christina Obiero

International Society for Infectious Diseases, Boston, United States; Clinical Research Department, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya; Depart of Global Health, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands

Paul Anantharajah Tambyah

International Society for Infectious Diseases, Boston, United States; Infectious Diseases Translational Research Program, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Lucille Blumberg

Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Division of the National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg South Africa

Richard Yapi

International Society for Infectious Diseases, Boston, United States; Centre d'Entomologie Médicale et Vétérinaire, CEMV – Université Alassane Ouattara, Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire

Seif Al-Abri

International Society for Infectious Diseases, Boston, United States; Directorate General for Disease Surveillance and Control, Ministry of Health, Muscat, Oman

Tatiana de Castro Abreu Pinto

International Society for Infectious Diseases, Boston, United States; Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Goes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Dorothy Yeboah-Manu

Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana

Najmul Haider

Pathobiology and Population Science, The Royal Veterinary College, London, United Kingdom

Danny Asogun

Community Medicine, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo, Nigeria

Thirumalaisamy P. Velavan

Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; and Vietnamese-German Center of Medical Research, Hanoi, Vietnam

Nathan Kapata

National Public Health Institute, Ministry of Health, and UNZA-UCLMS Research and Training Program, Lusaka, Zambia

Matthew Bates

HerpeZ and UNZA-UCLMS Project, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia; and School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK

Rashid Ansumana

Mercy Hospital Research Laboratory, Bo, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Chiara Montaldo

National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani Institute for Hospitalization and Care Scientific, Rome, Italy

Luchenga Mucheleng'anga

Ministry of Home Affairs, Office of the State Forensic Pathologist, and UNZA-UCLMS Research and Training Program, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia

John Tembo

HERPEZ and UNZA-UCLMS Research and Training Program, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia

Peter Mwaba

Lusaka Apex Medical University, Faculty of Medicine, and UNZA-UCLMS Research and Training Project, Lusaka, Zambia

Cordelia M. Himwaze

University Teaching Hospital, Department of Pathology and Microbiology; and UNZA-UCLMS Research and Training Program, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia

Muzamil Mahdi Abdel Hamid

Department of Parasitology and Medical Entomology, Institute of Endemic Diseases, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan

Sayoki Mfinanga

Muhimbili Medical Research Centre National Institute for Medical Research, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Leonard Mboera

SACIDS Foundation for One Health, Sokoine, University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania

Tajudeen Raj

Division of Public Health Institutes and Research, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Eleni Aklillu

Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Karolinska University Hospital-Huddinge, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

Francisco Veas

Molecular Comparative Immuno-Physiopathology Lab), Joint Research Unit-Ministry of Defense, Faculty of Pharmacy, French Research Institute for Development (IRD), Montpellier University, Montpellier, France

Sarah Edwards

Ethics and Governance, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Pontiano Kaleebu

Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda

Timothy D. McHugh

Center for Clinical Microbiology, Division of Infection and Immunity, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Jeremiah Chakaya

Department of Medicine, Therapeutics, Dermatology and Psychiatry, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya

Thomas Nyirenda

European and Developing Countries clinical trials Partnership, EDCTP Africa Office, Cape Town, South Africa

Moses Bockarie

European and Developing Countries clinical trials Partnership, EDCTP Africa Office, Cape Town, South Africa

Peter S Nyasulu

Division of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine; Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa

Christian Wejse

Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Publich Health, Aarhus University Hospital, Skejby, Denmark

Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum

National Institute of Biomedical Research and Department of Medical Microbiology and Virology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Esam I. Azhar

Special Infectious Agents Unit-BSL3, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University; Dept. of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Markus Maeurer

ImmunoSurgery Unit, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal; Medizinische Klinik, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany

Jean B. Nachega

Department of Medicine and Division of Infectious Diseases, Stellenbosch University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Cape Town, South Africa, and Depts of Epidemiology, Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Richard Kock

The Royal Veterinary College, University of London, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hatfield, UK

Giuseppe Ippolito

General Directorate for Research and Innovation in Health, Ministry of Health, Rome, Italy

Alimuddin Zumla

Center for Clinical Microbiology, Division of Infection and Immunity, University College London, and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, UCL Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom