on the balloons all award for the best foot waller of the year. that's a record. 7th time the paras sandra mount and argentina, ford helped his country when the copay america, his 1st international honor. he also scored 40 goose in 2021, and spain's alexia, who tell us, was named the women's footballer of the year. the midfielder guided barcelona to a historic treble when taken the spanish league queen's cup, as well as the champions league. ah, hello again. the headlines on al jazeera, the caribbean, an island nation of barbados has just become a republic after cutting ties with the british monarchy. sandra mason has been sworn in as president, replacing queen elizabeth as head of state. we now turn our vessels bow towards the new republic. re do this so that we may seize the full

substance of our sovereignty. for decades, we have had discourse and debate about the transition of bobby in the store. republic. to day g, b and discourse have become action. a quarter mean mar, has delayed its verdicts in the trial of ousted liter, uncensored. she until next week. she's accused of incitement on violating coven 19 restrictions. so she has been detained since the military took power in february. u . s. presidential biden says the new covered 19 variance is a cause for concern, but not panic. he ruled out imposing locked downs and promised a new plan to combat the pandemic. this period is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic. we have the best vaccine in the world, the best medicines, the best scientists, and we're learning more every single day, if needed. my team is already working with officials at pfizer, amber darn,

and johnson and johnson. terms develop contingencies and trans for vaccines or boosters, if needed from iran must engage constructively, in discussions to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal. representatives from russia, china, germany, france, and the u. k, all met with iranian officials in vienna. on monday, the u. s. is also attending, but it's only holding talks indirectly to ron one sanction lifted in return for limits on its nuclear program. the trial of british socialized gillan maxwell has begun to new york, the 59 year old, the use of enabling the crimes of convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein. she denies any wrongdoing. those are the headlines on al jazeera up next is inside story. thanks for watching. in less than a year castle high in the middle east. well, in preparation, the country is

a major test for the 16 nations going head to head in 6 built stadiums to 2020. okay. we'll keep you across the action as capital prepared for the regions. the biggest event, the fee for our cup on our era the race to contain a new cove with 1900 variance countries are closing their borders of re imposing travel restrictions and warranty measures a clear sign. the pandemic is far from over. but our government for parents to deal would be ever changing the virus. this is inside story. ah

hello and welcome to the program. i'm daddy navigate though. so just as countries around the world, we're starting to reopen their borders and lift cove in 1900 restrictions. a new variance is now threatening to derail the progress of the past few months. several nations have already imposed travel restrictions to and from southern africa. that's where the latest variance was 1st detected, the world health organization says it poses a high global risk. so government has been put on notice. be prepared. little is known about the new strain, but there are fears. it may be highly infectious on more resistance to vaccines. more than 2 years since we started the panoramic, it shows no signs of ending health officials or urging nations to speed up their vaccination drives. we'll bring in our guests in just a moment, but 1st here is more from the head of the w h ho, who's urge countries to work together to fight defend demik. we understand and support every government's responsibility to protect its own people. it's natural,

but vaccine equity is not charity. it's in every country's best interests. no country can vaccinate its way out of the fund. i'm you alone. the longer about union equity persists. the more opportunity these virus has to spread and evolve in ways we can not predict nor prevent. ah, let's, i'll bring in our guests. joining us from cambridge and the u. k. is dr. dipped eager to sunny, who's a senior lecturer, queen mary university of london in addis ababa, dr. well, the job p t director at the africa centers for disease control and prevention over in oxford, michael jacobs as the professor of political economy at the university of sheffield in the u. k. a warm welcome to you all. thanks so much for joining us on inside story dr. good assignee. so just about

a year ago and vaccinations started rolling out the belief by some was life could certainly return to normal. just when things seem to be looking up. infection started increasing again in some countries as you know, and now we have this new concerning variance. are you surprised by this, or do you expect this to happen? no, i'm not at all surprised. in fact, a lot of that rhetoric is come from politicians, particularly in the west, where the idea has been let's live with the wires and returned to normal. scientists have been warning for a while, but that's not possible with a virus that's been adapting continuously was becoming more transmissible. but actually most that we had more able to escape vaccines. so this was entirely predictable because we've had, i think, i knew where did arise on with every 3 to 4 months. and this is sort of right on time with predictions that many people have made. unfortunately, we've been ignored by government who wants life for children normal, but aren't really taking steps needed to ensure that radians. don't continue to

rise in the way that they are michael jacob for see you nodding along. what's your take on this? i think i bowed to the scientific experts, it is pretty clear that with a corona virus, that is mutating so rapidly. the ones that will emerge are the ones that are more transmissible and more resist vaccine. that's what, that's why they merge. and this does mean, i think that until the world is fully vaccinated, we are going to have to live with it in the sense that we're not going to be able to go back to move. this is the new normal and so well at least wearing mosques, physical distancing restrictions on travel, i think is inevitable for several years yet. and really worrying thing is the world has not made a huge amount of progress in vaccinating in tar populations. you know, most european countries have about 70 percent for the vaccination. now. in the u. k, in the u. s, it's less than not. it's more like 60 most african countries. it's still under 5

percent. the south africa where this new variant seems to arisen is only 25 percent, despite being a richer african country. these levels of explanation make it inevitable that we're going to see this virus across the globe. and that will continue to give us huge economic destruction. and huge increases in poverty. all right, all important points which i'll address in just a moment. the 1st let me bring an address out of us are army kron, and has been classified as a variant of concern, as you know, what is the data available so far? tell us about its infection risk, and will it become the dominant strain? do you think or is it too early to say? so and now thank you for having me. let me start by correcting the previous speaker, ah, who was alluded to a micron virus having been there coming from south africa that is incorrect. and

the correct position is that it is impossible to know where her variant fast appears on. the more efficient scientists are. the ones who are going to be declaring that they have characterized a particular variant. and that's what south africa indeed will china have done. it is the efficiency of their system that is now being turned round or to label, or this particular variant as a something that has happened in southern part of africa. and let me shift to your question. we don't know a lot about this particular very but the fact of the matter is, we know we expected from the very beginning that we are going to be having different variants. that is the way viruses are. they are going to mutate of a time. so it is not a surprise. what is surprising is the panic that we're seeing across the globe. by the time a virus,

a new variant has been characterized. it has been circulating and weaving the globe. and it is very difficult to them try and close doors and pretend that it may not come in to one particular community. and what we need to do is to understand what this new variant is all about. we still don't have enough information to do that. and then we react appropriately and the appropriate reaction is to use all the tools at our disposal. vaccines is just one of them. we must go back to all the other tools. public health measures masking up sanitizing, providing the correct information and not panic. so that we can stay ahead of the spend then otherwise, if we panic, it will only be 8 of us. so, okay, i'm at oklahoma. is this then the new normal as you speak of a sanitizing mass,

squaring vaccines, are people just going to have to learn how to live with the lock downs and restrictions and vaccines and screenings for the foreseeable future? what, what is definitely going to happen is we're going to be leaving in an environment that is different from the pre funding base. it is absolutely no doubt about that. we come, however, be able to bring this to a stop if we act together acting on our own individual countries. communities is not going to stop the pandemic. this is a global problem and we must approach it from a global perspective, where each a livery tool is available to each and every part of the world. then we can be able to bring this to a stop and the some of the restrictions will then be able to be removed. but so long as we continue to look at this from mom,

i very much unlisted spectacles. we're not going to have it and, and any new body of that will come is not going to be able to be contained in one country or one region. it will spread. so we must act together so that we can be able to remove all these restrictions and continue the life i relatively more comfortably than it is a doctor where the sun is that something you agree with. also, the president of south african self described, the emergence of this new variant as a wake up paul call for the world regarding particularly vaccine inequality. and he warned that until everybody was vaccinated then more variance were actually inevitable. so with countries and populations having different access to vaccines, as we know is here, i yes, me, thank you. this has been obvious from when the panoramic started. i mean, you need a globe the coordinated approach of progressive elimination. this is not a virus that you can live with because as i said, you will see new versions of this bio much each one potentially worse than the

previous. but you don't just need a coordinated vaccine strategy. so definitely there needs to be global equity. there's no doubt about that, and there's also no doubt that there's been massive boarding on vaccines in the west that has sort of push school back to the end of the queue despite there being a huge need that. but i think it also needs to be a coordinated effort to deal with misinformation back to hesitancy, which is impacting i think all of the was including south africa. and i think, unless we have all of that with the focus on, you know, i, profess m a said every to the tune box. so it's not just faxing, but hi, quick mark. things that work with a transmission like ventilation, really good. so valence system. we will not be able to get on top of this, so it's essentially using every layer that we have in ensuring that there is no country that disadvantage because of lack of access or shortages or lack of things . just structure as well as dealing with the huge amount of misinformation that

spread across multiple avenues including social media, michael jacobs. what do you think the governments need to do to manage this virus in a sort of more effective way? so we can get back to our normal lives. well, i certainly agree that we need to be sharing vaccines more equitably across the world. we recently, apparently in the u. k. destroyed 600000 vaccines, which had gone past their effective date, which is an absolute moral disgrace and economic disaster. we, it is really appalling that the western countries and gulf states and others have not been enabling greater vaccination in the rest of the world. and as has been said by various leaders, including the head of the w, w, i chose you heard earlier, i'm nervous a safe until everybody is. but i also agree that this problem with this information and vaccine hesitancy is a huge problem in the us. it looks very unlikely that they will ever be able to get to a bird immunity because very large numbers of people almost entirely associated with

supporters of the republican party. do not believe in vaccinations and in many cases seem to believe that the whole curve it thing is a hooks. now that is a kind of not just dis information, but a kind of political war on health and on equity. and many countries around the world see this where you got vaccine hesitancy bound up with wider mistrust of, of governments or professionals of experts and so on. and this is a real problem which we have to address in every country where this occurs, right? my cover, how difficult is it to balance? what scientists swan in terms of wiping up as virus and what society and populations need in terms of function and well being. i think from an economic point to do it is very difficult. there's no question that as you restrict certain kinds of contact and travel that certain sectors of the economy will be heard, the travel industry, tourism, in particular, the un conference on train development is estimated that the economic cost across

the world. but particularly from the loss of travel and tourism might go up to 4 trillion dollars last year and this year. so that is a huge economic cost. and it's obviously much harder for people and industries where most workers can't work from home in manual labor sectors. the auction working from home, which is possible for white color office workers, doesn't exist. so this will have is having a huge economic costs. but in the end a pandemic which, which we don't get riddle will have a larger economic costs. and so yes, of course, this is of balance and some countries seem to balance this better than others. in other places, the restrictions have been a been minimized because of political opposition. there's a kind of strand of libertarianism that's definitely true in my own country in the u. k. and in the u. s, which sees even things as simple as more squaring, as incursions on personal liberty. that kind of attitude is not helping that. he's making the situation worse, stand by for just

a moment or will delve into the economic discussion a little bit more, but take a look at these statistics. so as we mentioned earlier, this new variant is threatening to undo the recent economic recovery. if there was one, millions of people lost their jobs when businesses were forced to close. during the initial wave of the pandemic, global supply chains are still severely disrupted as a result of staff sorta, jones. and many ports are clogged with shipments, causing supply shortfalls, as well as rising prices. and the international monetary fund predicts the cost of food and gas will rise by 4.3 percent this year. and that is the biggest jump since 2011. and on the issue of travel, in particular off my dog. well, oma, the president of south africa, i'm sure you know, has called on countries which have imposed recent travel bands on his country as well as some other regional countries to urgently reverse their decisions. that's what he says before any further damage is done to our economies. so knowing that the u. k. u and u. s. are among some of those who impose those travel bands,

do you think they're going to make a difference in fading this variance solid bonds? don't work. we have seen it with a and is not a foster radiance, but in your sri st. our new start over the i'll find a better the delta m. we have very good evidence that travel bonds do not work. to fact. during this time of a micro, on we have seen as or my last count at least 12 countries have reported a documenting a bill micron a variant. so, closing down economies over a, by a, by bombing travel from one part of the world to another is not going to help. but when you say your diligence, i wonder if you can just tell us a little bit about what that evidence is. i'm look, if you go to each and every type of variant, the only way for you to be able to know which variant you're dealing with is to do

for genome sequence. so if a country is doing full genom sequencing, they will be able to tell what kind of variant we are dealing with. not all countries are doing that some countries are doing it, especially in africa. we are doing that very, very effectively. and when we share that data, we are punished. what 2nd is when you look at the out the way that them or the volumes are being identified across the world of it is not following aaliyah path or from one country to the other. it is popping up even amongst people who cannot be able to be seen to have trouble anyway are come into contact with somebody else. what travel? so it means that the, the way in which is variance are actually traveling across the world. we cannot yet be able to define it effectively and if we can't define the pathway, then the close closure of borders is not going to l. m a, but it is damaging our response into very important ways. one is that it is going

to discourage countries from a doing any for genome sequencing and sharing be a bit that is damaging and 2nd economically speaking by starting to label countries as are saucers of different types of by a variance. we are going to start if affecting are not only response of the public to our vaccination, but also they cannot make a damage that is going to be caused is going to be more if we deal with this as we are dealing with variance and not parts of the world than we are going to be a lot more effective, but travel bonds do not work have never worked. are not going to work with this variant or any other that will come out in the future and after the family. what is your opinion on this or, or the travel brands premature and a reaction or, or what's your take on? so by the time a band is identified, it is widespread. so you know, when it was identified, many of us said, yes,

it's definitely here in england. because of the transport links between different regions, that doesn't mean that slowing down import doesn't help. and certainly that helps, but not through travel bands through squeezing at the border and strong quarantine measures and not targeted at single countries, but dry. the comprehensive ones that require isolation and testing of all travino's and those measures have been shown to be highly effective in, in very large studies across many countries. but also with the caveat that they are effective because you going to slow down spread. but then are you going to do something with that extra time that you gain because ultimately cases will probably come through unless you have sort of very blanket restrictions like some countries in saudis have, which have kept radians out. and i don't see countries like the u. s. and u. k. doing very much else with that timing back time needs to be urgently use to put in domestic measures that reduce transmission to reduce existing case ways to

build healthcare capacity to increase vaccination and boosting. unless that time is used to do that it's, it's sort of going to be wasted. o oscar. the question that we put at the top of the show and it, is this going to be the new normal doctor for the sunny? should people continue to expect travel bands? i know that's a my dog. oma doesn't necessarily agree with them, but should people be expecting this to be their new normal? they should face travel bands every couple of months because of, of the corona virus. i think depends on the political will. i mean, if it is a global e coordinated effort towards elimination, been things like quarantines and travel restrictions and other restrictions will be the shortest some bucks. and by sorted them, i still me, unfortunately, over the course of a few yards, you know, like we did with me though, be eliminated, but gradually. but if that's not the course that we're choosing,

and if the course is living with the virus, then i'm afraid we are dealing with longer term restriction. so paradoxically, i find the focus on short term freedoms and short term economic green gains has trumped the science, which means that we're living in longer term restrictions and much, much greater economic damage. and i think at this point in time for politicians and scientists reflect on, you know, can we make it globally corner to f lord, which requires short pain. but, you know, does not require living with a virus that's constantly mutating to potentially become more transmissible. and more able to escape the tools that we have. so michael jake, of how do then government balance keeping their economies afloat on one end while protecting populations from transmission. and is their strategy this time around going to have to be different than last time around. the strategies in countries that are more vaccinated or is different and so lot downs are, are occurring less than they used to older. we've now seen new look, towns in certain european countries because transmission has extended florida. but

that will be different in many countries from before. i think many industries have become better at adapting to the situation where people can work from home. people are obviously got used to that in other sectors. we've got better logistics, which are kept people apart from one another, better ventilation of or, or of buildings and so on. so between industry and government, we've seen some forms of adaptation, which meant that the economic costs have not been as great. but then, or if we don't succeed in vaccination, very large numbers of the population globally and not just in certain countries. and these things won't be fully effective to very difficult choices for governments, because the economic costs are very considerable. you have obviously the direct health costs or people getting the disease. and but you have huge economic costs from making it more difficult for people to work into consume and to produce. and those have real health costs themselves. people become ill. a people are poorer

than they can't access, health care themselves and so on. so this is a very difficult balancing act and their own simple solutions for thing is that you cannot make inequality were worse than and michael jacobs if, if the situation continues as, as it economy can equality will was under either leaving the, a pandemic to go its own way or restricting the economy, but much more deeply naive. the choice is good for poor people because poor people have fewer options always. and so yes, inequality is light each arise. this is why it's so important, but governments are extend the vaccination programs, particularly in the donation of vaccines from rich countries to poor countries. because in the end that is the only way we will get a control of this. and the only way we can find some degree of equitable outcome, and i just will say, but trouble bands or any form of travel restriction is an economic costs to the

countries involved in that travel. so even if you don't band people, if you currently them, if you force him to have tests, which they have to pay for, you will have a restriction on the amount of trouble that is on the fly inevitable in a pandemic, the troubles are so quickly across borders, so whether or not it's actual bands or whether it's just better a quarantine in vaccination testing, processes that will impact on travel with an economic costs or madeau omar. it, to what extent you think this crisis, this pandemic has really been a revelation on, on weaknesses that exist and how we all live together. absolutely, and in fact the weaknesses have been across boat and all types of communities and countries. all types of a strat, dana's foster social status, once and all of us have been exposed in different ways. now,

2 things i like to add to that one is a, we do have tools at our disposal that we need to use to slow this down. so that we can, we were to perform an adequate economic activities. that one is testing. we have a rapid test now which gives you results in a matter of minutes. and we need to use these more effectively so that we can, we would weigh them to fi hotspots quickly, and then put out on the spread as fast as possible before it goes into other parts of the country, other parts of the world. so effective testing needs to be ramped up. second is vaccine issue. we need to vaccine it, that we can reduce the number of people who are going to be seriously ill and therefore put less pressure on our health systems. and i also have fewer people who can be able to spread at a virus more, more efficiently. and finally, is information human beings by and live if they're given the correct information,

they tend to react in a positive way. they'll always be that part of society that will not be able to react in a positive way. the way that we transmit that information, how fast we do it, and how effectively treat the population is critical in ensuring that our population is we of them are those who are responsible for guiding and coordinating this response. and now currently we're not doing enough of providing that information and we need to do it more effectively. ok on that now to leave it there . thank you so much for joining us, doctor. do you think are there any doctor mother? well, oh my michael jacobs, we appreciate your time. thanks for watching. you can see the program again any time by visiting our website al jazeera dot com for further discussion. and you can go to our facebook page. that's facebook dot com forward slash ha. and i story, you can join the conversation on twitter or handle is a james, i story from myself and the whole team here in delphi. thanks for watching. bye. for now, the news

stepped beyond the comfort zones where assumptions are challenged. travel to the ends of the earth and further experience the unimaginable of the people who live it . witness award winning documentary is on a, just a, you know, a mass pro democracy movement, violent crackdowns assassinations and you imposed sanctions, all talk tics in the struggle that ensued from the 2020 bella roost in presidential elections. that shook the country, self proclaimed dictators seat of power. and now new tactics, migrants, people in power investigates the humanitarian disaster under rivaling on europe's borders and asks what's next and the battle for bella. bruce on a jazz eda, i care about helping you with engaging with the rest of the world. i cover foreign policy, national purity. this is

a political impact here. the conflicts. are we telling a good story? we're really interested in taking you in to a place that you might not visit otherwise and to actually feel as if you were there. ah, barbados, begin the new chapter in its history. as the island nation breaks ties with the british monarchy and becomes a republican. ah, who are watching algae 0 ally from a headquarters in south? i'm daddy and abigail are also a heads. australia's prime minister says he's appalled but not surprised. after an inquiry finds a 3rd of federal parliament, employees suffered sexual harassment. president joe biden tells americans not to

panic after the discovery of the new covent 19 variance, but rules out another lockdown and a glimpse of what's to come catera.