Amid the global scare over the new “Omicron” variant of coronavirus, Health Minister Zahid Maleque yesterday said returnees from the African countries will have to have Covid-19 test reports, done 48 hours prior to departure, while entering Bangladesh.

Saudi Arabia confirmed its first case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant coming from a north African country, state news agency SPA reported on Wednesday.

Amid the global scare over the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, Health Minister Zahid Maleque today urged the expatriates, especially those living in Africa, to avoid travel and stay in their respective workplaces.

Two persons have died from Covid-19 in 24 hours till 8:00am today, according to a press release issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

On Friday, November 19, Raquel Viana, Head of Science at one of South Africa's biggest private testing labs, sequenced the genes on eight coronavirus samples - and got the shock of her life.

The government yesterday introduced a ‘no vaccine, no service’ policy and a 14-day institutional quarantine for those arriving from countries where the Omicron variant has been detected, as it scrambles to put its guard up against the new potentially more contagious strain of the coronavirus.

BioNTech and Pfizer's established Covid-19 vaccine will likely offer strong protection against any severe disease from the new Omicron virus variant, BioNTech's Chief Executive told Reuters.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) voiced concern on Tuesday that some states are introducing blanket measures aimed at the Omicron coronavirus variant that he said were “not evidence-based or effective on their own” and were penalising southern African countries that reported the strain so quickly.

New findings about the coronavirus's omicron variant made it clear Tuesday that the emerging threat slipped into countries well before their defenses were up, as two distant nations announced their first cases and a third reported its presence before South African officials sounded the alarm.

The government of France has provided 20.6 lakh doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Bangladesh.

The government will administer Covid-19 booster doses to senior citizens (aged 60 and above), but the date for the campaign has not yet been decided, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said today.

One person has died from Covid-19 in 24 hours till 8:00am today, according to a press release issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The government is considering a “no vaccine, no service” campaign at all public offices to encourage people to get vaccinated, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said today after an inter-ministerial meeting.

Drugmaker Moderna set off fresh alarm bells in financial markets on Tuesday as the firm's chief warned that Covid-19 vaccines are unlikely to be as effective against the Omicron variant as they have been against the Delta version.

The emergence of the new omicron variant and the world’s desperate and likely futile attempts to keep it at bay are reminders of what scientists have warned for months: The coronavirus will thrive as long as vast parts of the world lack vaccines.

A high-powered meeting involving several ministers will sit today to weigh on slapping on yet another international travel ban to keep the new potentially more contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus out of Bangladesh.

Many of the world’s richest countries have spent the past year hoarding coronavirus vaccines, buying up enough doses to vaccinate their populations several times over and consistently failing to deliver on their promises to share doses with the developing world. The World Health Organization said the approach was “self-defeating” and “immoral.”

BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are working on vaccines that specifically target Omicron in case their existing shots are not effective against the new coronavirus variant, the companies said on Monday.

The Omicron variant of coronavirus carries a very high global risk of surges, the WHO warned on Monday, as more countries reported cases, prompting border closures and reviving worries about the economic recovery from a two-year pandemic.

With an expanded definition to reflect the times, Merriam-Webster has declared an omnipresent truth as its 2021 word of the year: vaccine.