global panic spreads over a new covet variant, dozens of countries have halted flights from south southern africa where the amok constrain was 1st detected in johannesburg. the restrictions have left ere passenger scrambling to get out for many of them. it's already too late. the last plains to europe in north america have already departed ahead of travel deadlines imposed by governments while flight to major connection hubs such as doha, goodbye, and singapore. have all been suspended falsely earlier spoke with travelers at south africa's biggest airport straight didn't because nothing, nothing i can do coming as a poll. i'm not getting anything dad saying, i don't know that when, when i can, i can fly to we've checked on the air, france and the flight was in consult. i think you can you hear? i'm see, i tend to be quite the way up with you but everything. so we're going to buy a new ticket. so it's chaos and zion and confusion. following the discovery of a new coven variant called me crohn. at his turn, the world upside down. people are rushing to the a port in a pace for the attempt to get on

50 other countries who have put travel restrictions on countries in southern africa are sparking criticism. >> it's outrageous that southata with the rest of the world as soon as we knew it and confirmed it. >> reporter: these restrictions have left travellers in limbo. >> we've probably already had about ten flig

50 other countries who have put travel restrictions on countries in southern africa are sparking criticism. >> it's outrageous that south africa, southern africa is being pu punished for having good surveillance and ensuring we wanted to be transparent and share this data with the rest of the world as soon as we knew it and confirmed it. >> reporter: these restrictions have left travellers in limbo. >> we've probably already had about ten flights booked that we were either canceled or that we were not allowed to board. >> reporter: but today president joe biden tried to assure the american people that these are precautionary measures. >> this variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic. >> reporter: and he along with other top health officials continue to echo one main message. get vaccinated. >> please, folks, if you have been on the fence, i'm not a politician. i'm a scientist. maybe we can even ask all the politicians to agree on this one. get your vaccine. get your booster. it's the best chance we've got to drive this covid-19 pandemic away. >> jake, as we have been saying, there's still a lot we don't kno

when it comes to vaccines in south africa, particularly the southern african nations in particular, the u.s. has provided nearly 8 million doses of the vaccine to south africa and white house press secretary when asked by our colleague, kaitlan collins earlier today says that south africa has turned down new vaccine, not a criticism, but just a reality as countries try and get their own populations vaccinated amid the continuing evolution of this virus, guys. >> let's go to david now in pe t, the president calling unfair, unjustified, what more are you hearing? >> reporter: there's been deep criticism of these moves by the u.s. and many other nations to lock out southern african states and their travelers because of this traveling new variant. president biden saying that this is to buy time as phil was saying. since i have been speaking to you here, time has already run out, that this variant is likely widespread outside of the southern african region and to really stop any evolution or distribution of this variant, you'd have to ban all countries from traveling into the u.s. borders. t

southern africa. they call the restrictions an overreaction and say they are unlikely to have much of an impact. >> firstly, it's outrageous that, you know, southica, southern africa is being punished for having good surveillance and ensuring that we wanted to be completely transparent. so this kind of early knee jerk reaction to block travel is just going to slow the seeding slightly at best but have little, if any, impact. >>> all right. let's bring in cnn's eleni. south africa sounded the alarm and is paying dearly for doing that. talk to us about reaction there and, of course, the low vaccination rate and the spread of this new variant. >> reporter: rosemary, i have to say that the mood in south africa is one of anger and that the country is being targeted. and from the scientific community we've been hearing one thing. that south africa has advanced genomic sequencing because of skills that it acquired by dealing with the hiv virus, and we are sitting with a situation where the country was able to alert the world to the omicron virus variant, and now sequencing can occur all over the world. and as we know, omicron has already infiltrated s

really concerned about this new variant detected in south africa in southern africa and calling for governments to restrict access from people who've been in southern africa to the e. u. and now you have this confirmation from the belgian government that at least one person has tested positive in the course of the last few days for this new variant. dominic, let's talk about germany. specifically, i am reading about flying intensive care units being used by the air force trying to reduce the strain. tell us more. yeah, well the thing about this situation in germany right now is that it is as bad as it has ever been and it is growing increasingly bad as the weeks unfold. so yes, the lift buffer, that's the german air force ferrying help around wherever possible to the places where it's needed most. and there are some states where the situation is described officially as catastrophic. 3 east german states states in the old east germany have had 10 percent or more than 10 percent of all their cases have happened in the last 7 days. then if you extrapolate that to a federal level, what we have is m

frustrated that the response from many of the countries that have been travel not only to south africa, but southern africa in that scientists have done everything they needed to, to ensure that the world is made aware of exactly what's going on and also the scientists and experts spoken to said there's no clear indication of where this mutation originated. it doesn't mean just because of african scientists have identified it that it's from south africa. there's great concern around the impact the travel bag will have on the region, especially at the time of year when they should be thousands of travelers from the rest of the world's coming to the region for holidays. but one of the other issue that they've pointed out, and i think what was a, what appears to be the message from the president around me, of course, is that he is not heightened restrictions within the south africa routes of africa remains that level one. so i think also sending out a defiant message to the rest of the world, say, there's no scientific foundation for such a travel bad. and as far as containing the spread in, in south a

the country because of the new virus variant, omicron, which was first identified in south africa and certainly southerntions and bands imposed by other countries but canada has also confirmed, as is the uk, that they have cases —— bans. france has a suspected case and the dutch also. that story will inaudible. hello. for many parts of the uk, it's a cold and icy start to the new week. there are changes afoot. it briefly turns milder on tuesday, doesn't last for long — the colder air moves back in from midweek onwards — and throughout the week, some spells of wet and windy weather at times. this is how monday shapes up. we have a warm front draped across scotland and northern ireland. ahead of it, we're in the colder air, behind it, something milder. on the front, we'll see outbreaks of rain preceded by some hill sleet and snow through the morning across scotland. ahead of it through the morning, a widespread ice risk for much of scotland and england. some patchy rain into northern ireland, maybe into the far north of england. further south, it stays mostly dry for daylight hours. the best of the sunshi

the gulf of guinea, seeing quite a few heavy showers as well as we move to southern africa. it's south africa, that's a lot wetter and cooler. but there's, there's a lot of heat coming through for southern botswana. that's your update. ah frank assessments is likely to change biking behavior. it, it's not gonna change their behavior, they're going to continue to do what they do. and in depth analysis of the days global headlines inside story on al jazeera. ah yeah man, i saw them at least 15 different guy and saddam off the security forces. open fire on thousands who are protesting against the military take open. ah, hello, i made for it again. this is al 0 alive from though also coming back off. the philippines condemns chinese firing on its supply boats in the contested south china sea troops joined rescue efforts in parts of western canada.

spreading really quite rapidly in south africa and then we're seeing cases popping up in countries around particularly when there has been travel from south africa or southern african countries to other places like israel and places like that and for that reason, the president decided prudently to put the travel restriction on not only to south africa but to seven other countries that border south africa. >> is what you are seeing right now the kind that keeps you up at night >> you don't want to frighten the american public, but when something occurs that you need to take seriously, you take it seriously and you do whatever you can to mitigate against that. i mean, i'm saying this absolutely clearly that if ever there was a reason for unvaccinated people to get vaccinated and for those who have been vaccinated when your time comes up to go and get a booster shot because even though there may be some diminution, and we don't know that in the protection against the vaccine. certainly to be vaccinated and boosted is always better than not to be. so that's the first thing. the second thing is what the president has decided to do. he's taking it very seriously,

psaki: we have sent close to 8 million doses to south africa, 13 billion to southern africa, over 93 million to africa, and 275 million to the world. this is not meant to be a criticism ,it is meant to give people understanding of what the challenges are in a lot of countries. it is about ensuring there is operational capacity, which is not meant to be a criticism of any leaders in government. but it is challenging to have public health officials in all communities of every country available. also, there are hesitancy issues in not just the u.s., but many parts of the world. it is about having not just the vaccines but also the apparatus, the capability, and also addressing vaccine hesitancy, which is something we have worked hard to address in this country. reporter: you know when south africa had turned down vaccines from the united states? sec. psaki: i don't have any additional details beyond that. i would just note that we are prepared to provide them with additional doses when they're prepared to receive them. thank you. reporter: just to follow up on caitlin's question, you ou

new variant of cove at 19 had been identified in south africa that led to the united kingdom announcing a new travel ban on people coming from southern african countries, including south africa botswana and some bob, which is a big inconvenience. we had our flights booked for a week time, but we got the news from our daughter in the u. k. about 12 31 o'clock last night saying that you were going to introduce the read this sunday sun justified. it's abrupt and it's not good for tories in for south africa. was seen these regulations laid off last night. people love frantically trying to get back into the south african sciences, say they're worried, existing vaccines may not be effect. and the new variant may spread easily. genomics develops in south africa has been outstanding throughout this whole pandemic period. and that's why we've been able to identify when changes occur. the fact that we are able to identify changes quickly is good news is good news for the world. but we must be careful that we don't then jumped the conclusion of, well, that equals, it came from here. it came from there. and it means it's this so that we need to

it's seen countries around the world, restricting travel to and from southern africa, south africa botswana, zimbabwe, namibia lesotho as what teeny and mozambique are among those affected by these rules. and the news has shaken the world's economy just as it was showing signs of recovery. stalks on wall street took a hit on friday before they closed for the weekend. and in south africa itself, the number of confirmed cases are still relatively low. but the speed with which young people are getting sick is causing alarm. will have the latest from poor brother in london shortly. we also have steph rassen, who is an amsterdam fest. let's go straight to farmer de miller, who is in johannesburg for us from it. that's been a real outcry in south africa about these international flight bands. would have people been saying well, that outcry comes specifically from scientists and the government in south africa who have certainly been frustrated in the last 2448 hours saying that simply because south africa has done its work and has been transparent. now south africa's being punished by being put on

we know that there have been a lot of travel bands towards a southern as south africa. another southern african states were finding out though that to the virus is present in the netherlands. for example, the for the travel man. we're also hearing about other countries that have found it . it's all about a case of just trying to find out as much as you can as quickly as you possibly can . and just in the last hour or so, brazil has confirmed that it has a number of cases details still to come from them. we know that a number of countries have imposed travel bands, japan, banning everyone who is not a foreign national or a resident from arriving in the country for the next month. those that do arrive to our foreign that are nationals or residents will have to quarantine for 2 weeks at the world health organization saying it, travel bands are not helpful. it is not going to stop the spread. what it's going to stop the spread. what may be a new variant, but the advice is very much the same and in the photos saying, just a few hours ago that look when i'm asked when you're o

it's clear what this will lead to is more protests from south africa and southern africa countries that they are being discriminated against. these travel bans were unsuitable, they were just knee jerk reactions and that they're punishing south africa for their candor, for coming out and saying, here is the new variant, we figured it out, we identified it, and now their economy is being punished for that. we already heard that from the president of south africa, and now because we know it was in the netherlands before that, we'll probably hear about that. there are 42 cases in ten different countries, so this is spreading very fast. that number is probably already out of date. there is already 22 here in the u.k. we can expect that those numbers are going to be increasing dramatically, but still, katy, important to note, most of those cases still have some connection back to southern africa. not all of them, but most of them. so whether it was actually -- whether the virus, whether the mutation comes from southern africa as was suspected at first, or whether it came to europe and went b

this variant is wyatt spread, not just in southern africa where the bans mainly focus on south africa possibility is so the way the bans are being i.mented don't make sense. >> president biden says the restrictions aren't meant to be a firewall but to buy some time. is that a valid argument. >> look, we know that travel bans can be helpful in delaying the arrival of a virus in the country, and even to do that but the effectivity of the virus has to be substantially lower than what we anticipate for the virus and the section thing is you have to shut down 90% to 95% travel in your country so a country as large as u.s. with the policy of allowing citizens to come back and only focusing on southern africa and not most of the world where the virus is and not in countries where we have more travel connections. that's the reason why most of us are successful of the utility of the ban even in terms of substantially slowing the virus. >> so if travel bans aren't the answer, some have suggested mandating vaccines for travel. what do you think of that idea? >> there are a few things like ensuri

western areas, the gulf of guinea, seeing quite a few heavy showers as well as we move to southern africa. it's south africa, that's a lot wetter and cooler. but there's, there's a lot of heat coming through for southern botswana that sure update. ah, a african narrative. from african perspective. i knew series of short documentary by african filmmakers from across the continent. this isn't really get to commit to handle the african direct. coming, sued on al jazeera, big. ah ah, welcome back. you're watching al jazeera alive from doha. your top stories, this half hour, medical staff in sudan say at least 15 people have been shot dead by the security forces during another protest against last month's military take hope. doesn't have been injured by live fire antagonists. the u. s. secretary of states is reiterated calls for cease for irony. for europe is conflict expressing concerns the war could spill across the horn of africa, antique lincoln made the comments in the canyon capital. during the 1st leg of original tour umbrella, russo sets up shelters for migrants and refugees. stranded on the borde

western areas, the gulf of guinea, seeing quite a few heavy showers as well as we move to southern africa. it's south africa, that's a lot wetter and cooler. but there's, there's a lot of heat coming through for southern botswana. that's your update. oh, the weather sponsored by casara always healing the debates. 90 percent of the woods refugees have come from of common impacted country. the climate emergency is putting more pressure on cities across the world and amplify your voice. it's not really the future rates. now, this is not our exclusively, please give a lot concrete responsibly feedback. we cannot lose hope. we know what to do, and we have the tools to do to get back, we must build all these papers. this stream on al jazeera lou. the me. welcome back. you're watching al jazeera, your top story so far this half hour medical stuff insur done. so 15 people have been shot dead by the security forces during another protest against last month's military takeover. dozens have been injured by life, fire, and tear gas. the secretary of states has reiterated cold for a ceasefire in conflict in ethio

there are a lot of people who would have booked trips to south africa this christmas and wider southern concern. i decision will clearly cause of much concern. ., , ., ~' decision will clearly cause of much concern. . , ., ~ ., ., decision will clearly cause of much concern. ., ~ ., ., ., , concern. i was talking to a family when this news _ concern. i was talking to a family when this news broke, _ concern. i was talking to a family when this news broke, and - concern. i was talking to a family when this news broke, and it - when this news broke, and it sounds as if they are it will be some children who are also stuck here. for example, i was asked, "can i transit through another country." transit through another country. " what transit through another country." what do you understand about that? can you circumvent the restriction and go through your up, and then come to the uk? m0. and go through your up, and then come to the uk?— and go through your up, and then come to the uk? no, you won't be able to because _ come to the uk? no, you won't be able to because the _ come to the uk? n

south africa. they said, we've done the work, we've been transparent and instead we've been punished when this is also a variant that's been detected in other countries. not just in that southern african countries in south africa. in particular, the minister of health has said that south africa has been punished and that this kind of approach has also led to a certain amount of panic and uncertainty. and the government is looking to have this decision being put to on the read list. once again, with the struggling economy, having that decision reversed and they're talking about talks with the e. u as well as the united kingdom in the days to come to try and have this decision reviewed along with the world health organization and that kind of sentiment as also trickle down to the general public in south africa will agree that this really is a punishment talk about panic and uncertainty about on. so for me to tell us a little bit more about that, the scenes, we've seen it at the airports and i wonder as well people rushing, trying to get their vaccines done now as well. well, that's an interesting point because south africa has had an issue around vaccines and the amount of peopl

they hit the holiday season in terms of travel across provinces in south africa, and also cross border in southern africa. so it's certainly a cause for concern, not only for the people trying to understand what exactly the various means, but just people in the country wanting to know what happens next in terms of their personal plan. family, thanks very much. that's found that miller in johannesburg, the deputy head of sedans, governing council, has told to 0. the last one is military takeover was quote, the best option to stop what he called a spiraling crisis. general mohammed hummed on dialogue that they'll also known as committee, says the move was discussed with all parties, including the prime minister della humbug comes in hitting over here. what's happened on october 25th was the ultimate outcome of a long process. since that change started in sudan during such process, many discussions were made. and many initiatives were proposed by various parties, the prime minister himself proposed to initiated and during our meetings and the transitional partners council or the sovereignty council,

south africa and other countries to better characterise the variant itself. the eu, japan and several other countries announce travel bans to affected southern african countries — south africa says it's the wrong approach: stopping travel from one country or even a small group of countries very soon becomes superfluous. how to resolve the migrant crisis in calais? the uk and france find themselves at loggerheads as a diplomatic row breaks out. protesters target amazon buildings in 20 countries on the biggest shopping day of the year, black friday, but did they disrupt sales? welcome to those watching in the uk and around the globe. we start with growing concerns over the emergence of a new strain of covid—19 in south africa. the world health organisation has — in the past few hours — classified it as a variant of concern and named it — the greek letter omicron. meanwhile — european union leaders have agreed to suspend travel from affected areas — after belgium detected the first case in europe. the us have also announced they will bring in restrictions from monday. south africa has denounced the measures taken against the country, calling them �*unjustified'

changes and instead of south africa being punished, we had dec christa's in there from south africa's precedent on travel bands. and passengers arriving to you k from all 10 of these southern african nations need to quarantine as of sunday. that's the same for people from 6 of these countries entering japan. and from monday, the u. s. is banning travelers from 8 of them except for american citizens. as a nation to going further, america is halting. all incoming ad traveled from around the world. the next 2 weeks from monday and that fall as a similar decision by israel, a ban on all foreign travellers has just come into effect there to last the next 2 weeks. i forced reports from occupied east jerusalem. getting in while the getting was good. sunday was the final day of relatively unrestricted arrivals at israel's main airport. you rules me no foreigners save those with special exemptions will be allowed into the country in the world's harshest response to the army. chrome variant is res. returning home, we'll have to quarantine for 3 days if vaccinated 7 days if not, and be diverted to quarantine hotels. if they been to read list countries in africa, at the weekly cabinet

southern africa is the most concerning it has seen. and it might evade the immune response generated by both infection and vaccination. it's putting south africa, namibia, the pseudo, but swanner is were teeny and zimbabwe onto its travel read list from friday scientists in south africa, i have requested an urgent world health organization meeting after detecting the variant south africa, public health institute says the strain which was discovered in botswana, as an unusually large number of mutations, our scientists are deeply concerned about this varied. i'm concerned, of course, and that's one of the reasons we've taken this action today. i will say we don't know enough about this for it. no one does. i think probably the u. k. knows more the most heard because the excellent work we do on surveillance, but i think it is right that we take this approach and we remain cautious. while helen reese is a senior regional advisor for the world health organization, she says that while there is reason for concern, there are more questions to be answered. i think when we see something like this and we don't yet understand it, we all must all b

take a listen to the senior scientist. >> it's outrageous that, you know, south african, southern africa is being punished for having good surveillance. if you think about, you know, what we've experienced with the delta variant, within a matter of three weeks it was in over 53 countries. so it -- it's going to become superfluous and irrelevant to try and block travel from a few countries because it will be spreading in many other countries. >> reporter: it could take two to three weeks to figure out just whether this is something to worry about or this is all just a big false alarm. those will be agonizing weeks. ana? >> david, thank you investment joining us now to discuss all of this is dr. jorge rodriguez, board certified internal medicine search and viral researcher. dr. rodriguez, let's just start with what we heard from the president, his words, his plan, urging vaccinations and boosters, reassuring americans that his team is already preparing, if needed, for contingency plans if the current vaccines don't work as well against this variant. what do you think about president biden'

growing number of countries all over the world of decided to ban or restrict travel from southern africa. this means south africa botswana cimbawe way, namibia las suitor, s sertina and mozambique all among those affected the bands came as the world health organization declared a new cove at 19 varied to be a variant of concern and named it army cra. we understand that people are concerned . the good thing is that we have monitoring systems around the world to detect these variance very quickly. this variant was detected a few weeks ago, and already scientists are sharing research with us information with us so that we can take action. what's really important as an individual is to lower your exposure . the measures these proven public health measures have never been more important distancing wearing of a mask, making sure that it's over your nose and mouth with clean hands. making sure you avoid crowded spaces, have be in rooms where there's good ventilation and when it's your turn get vaccinated. we're still learning a lot about this new on a cron variant. at this stage. this is what we do know 1st repo

from what was a tropical depression, just came across the horn of africa in southern africa, particularly south africa, where it's been dry for a while. there's a huge amount. right. and that's why 1st of all, up in malawi, mozambique. but look at this development of widespread thunderstorms in the eastern cape and elsewhere in south africa. ah, with the story of a small community in one of mexico's most dangerous states, standing up to criminal cartels and corrupt politicians, we don't want to politicians anymore. they just dis, united the people in the last episode of democracy. maybe we explore how sharon's elders led the fight, the self determination residing at that time, thinking that the not has the same as thinking of 2 ends government by the people on al jazeera. most people will never know what's beyond these doors. the deafening silence of 100000 balls. how it feels to touch danger every day. most people will never know what it's like to work with. every breath is precious, with fear is not an option. but we're not most people oh, a watching al jazeera, let's remind you about top sto

south africa had done great work in finding this new variant. and there shouldn't be collective punishment of south africa and its neighbors. in southern africa, he firmly put his weight behind the world health organization statement, a ball position. with this statement which was read out a short time ago. the secretary general said he is now deeply concerned about the isolation of southern african countries due to new coven 19 travel restrictions. as he and others have long warned low vaccination rates or breeding ground for variance. the people of africa cannot be blamed for the morally low level of vaccinations available on the continent, and they should not be penalized for identifying and sharing crucial science and health information with the world. the secretary general appeals to all governments to consider repeated testing for travelers together with other appropriate and truly effective measures with the objective of avoiding the risk of transmission so as to allow for travel and economic engagement. now the secretary general has also made it clear in the past that war time, logic should be brought in to the discussions of k

south africa has very good coronavirus sequencing and transparency. they alerted the world. what about these travel restrictions in southern africa? is it south africa being punished for doing what is supposed to do? >> the director general warns against this and here we have the president from south africa voicing this and it looks a lot like it. just because you ring the alarm bell, you should not be the messenger that gets killed or beaten in this case. there's a lot that countries can do. let's not forget that. the fact that around the world, in european airports, canada, the u.s., that we have found cases is simply because there was enough tting and surveillance done to find the cases and this is the way to go. there are many steps and possibilities where we can know what the picture is and not push a country and also if we cut flights, it means a lot of things. may notet help in that country. we may not get more evidence from that country. we may not get also something back from that untry. we a living in a globalized world. everything is interconnected. you cannot isolate a problem like that and just the finger at one positi

travel bands and that continues to be the sentiment from the south african government that south africa has been punished along with other southern african countries for detecting this variant in south africa. they are at the moment about 19 cases of the new variant in neighboring botswana. and those samples were sent to south africa. and that's also how this variant wires are identified. and the president had also gone on to talk about what a good job local sciences were doing in terms of the sequencing of genomes, as well as watching out for changes in mutations and the coven, 19 virus. and instead of being applauded for that, south africa is being punished. and this will just really worse than the economic situation in a country that's already had months of locked down where the south african ran. the currency has lost a significant amount of value and with thousands of jobs have been lost. and so this type of reaction, they're calling knee jerk reaction. they say is just unjustified unwarranted and simply unfair. what else do you have to say about the, the, the cases, the effect this is having on numbers of cases there. so, r

found in the united kingdom. meanwhile, south africa has been hitting back against the actions taken by countries like the u. s. in brazil to close borders with southern africa. it claims its being punished for detecting the new varied bust b. u. i said it's greatly concerned about the escalating conflict in south africa in ethiopia and has called urgent negotiations. if you have been prime minister abbey added as joined the army on the front lines against 2 grand rebels from the north. the bodies of 3 people have been found in a burned out building in the solomon islands capital, where they have been days of rising protest. this won't be prime minister money say so very, to resign. french president emanuel macro has accused british prime minister boris johnson of not being serious about migration in the english channel. the french have also disinvite the u. k. from the european crisis meeting. if the latest deterioration in relations between the neighbors days off at least $27.00 refugees and migrant ground of the coast of northern france. molly gave us a lecture at the university of essex who focuses on refugee and immigration policies. she says mig

among those nations affected south africa is hitting back against the actions taken by countries like the u. s. australia and brazil to stop travel and close borders with southern africa in a statement. it's foreign minister said following this latest round of travel bands is akin to punishing south africa for it's at vase genomic sequencing and the ability to detect new variance quicker. excellent, science should be applauded and not punished. the global community needs collaboration and partnerships in the management of the coven 19 pandemic. let's go live to our correspondent for mr. miller, who is in johannesburg. a real outcry in south africa about these international flight bands. tell us more about what people have been saying and really a lot of frustration, both from the south african government, as well as scientists who have said that south africa has been at the forefront of genome sequencing of, of tracking the changes in the coven, 19 variance and, and as you said, they say they should be applauded, and instead they're being punished for doing good work. but also who being transparent, one of the statements from the department of international rel

not just on south africa but around countries in southern africa, around south africa. dr. anthony fauci was asked about this morning on cnn about whether the u.s. should follow suit, follow the other countries that have done that. here's what he said. >> obviously, as soon as we find out more information, we'll make a decision as quickly as we possibly can. you always put these things on the table, but you don't want to say you're going to do it until you have some scientific reason to do it. that's the reason we're rushing to gets that scientific data to try and make an informed decision about something like that. >> given what little we do know, do you think a ban would be appropriate at this point for the biden administration to impose? >> it's really difficult. there's no easy answer here, because on the one hand, we don't know much about this new variant yet. and so might we be rushing ahead of the scientific studies? but on the other hand, we near the u.s. have always been behind during this pandemic, and there is an argument to be made about using an abundance of ca

southern africa in place. >> it's outrageous that south african and southern africa is being punished for having good surveillance and, you know, ensuring that we wanted to be completely transparent and to share this data with the rest of the world as soon as we knew it and confirmed it. >> reporter: these restrictions have not only prompted outcries, but have already left travelers in limbo. >> we have probably had about ten flights booked that were either cancelled or that we were not allowed to board. >> reporter: but what top-health officials continue to remind us is that vaccines are what will make the biggest impact. >> please, folks, if you've been on the fence, i'm not a politician. i'm a scientist. maybe we could even ask all the politicians to agree on this one. get your vaccine. get your booster. it's the best chance we've got to drive this covid-19 pandemic away. >> reporter: so, kate, bottom line is your best protection against this variant right now is to get vaccinated. as we've been saying, we don't know whether or not omicron can evade vaccines. but just in case it can, pfizer and biontech says t

still have a lot more to learn about the situation in south africa and the efforts should be focused on not only south africa but countries in the southern regions and ensure they get a full picture of the virus, able to clamp down as much as possible on the transmission of the virus and protect the rest of us from any potential consequences. >> there are so many moving pieces when it comes to the european health situation in this stage you have some countries with strict measures like austria with the 20 day lockdown and you have more restrictions for winter so what does it mean as we deal with a variant like this is the population slightly more protected than if they were circling as per norrmal as we went into the pandemic. >> i think it's important we separate the two concepts, the situation in europe is around the rapid transmission increases for the delta variant. which is the only -- practically the only variant circulating in europe the vaccines we have in europe and authorized by the medical authority are extremely efficient on protecting against severe disease, death and hospitalizations, and they remain to do that at very, ver

the omicron variant first discovered in south africa may be highly transmissible, at midnight, the u.s. will ban travel from south africa and seven other southern african countries. >> i'm going to nairobi. i'm going back to my country to see my father who is not feel willing. >> reporter: ann is relieved she could catch a flight to kenya before even more travel bans are implemented. davinder says he supports travel banns. >> it's good that we don't have to suffer like we did in the past. we should have done it before, closed the borders. we are closing. that's good. >> reporter: but the world health organization criticized travel bans being placed on african countries saying not enough is known yet and that the restrictions may, quote, place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods. meanwhile, israel's new to ban foreigners from entering the country and is mandating quarantine for all israelis arriving from abroad. morocco also suspending incoming flights for two weeks. u.s. infectious disease expert dr. anthony fauci explained why the omicron variant is so concerning. >> what clearly is giving indication that has the capability of transmitting

from south africa botswana, zimbabwe and 5 other southern africa nations here at sfo. there are very few, if any direct flights from that part of the world most flights will connect through heathrow or jfk or another large airport. the emergence of this new coronavirus variant is very concerning because travelers are just now getting back to traveling the way they were before the pandemic. i talked to a couple of people here at sfo on monday who say they are concerned now it's become very scary. >> the fly because now that the book about the new. new of i don't. if covid-19 it's become to be scary. the job and especially in the afternoon. yeah. because of people like, you know, it's was a seat. don't know. indicated that is that's become a now, so far the travel restrictions only apply to those 8 countries from the southern portion. >> of africa. there are no indications that the travel ban or restrictions could be broadened to include other countries, although that is a possibility. if they find this variant coronavirus, there's a real danger. but for now at sfo, char

response we're seeing from many countries is targeted travel bans, most specifically focusing on southern africa. south africa getting a lot of the focus here it's something they're not happy about. the south african president lashed out at these bans, saying they're scientifically unjustified. the w.h.o. continues to study this they are warn thing is enough of a mutation that there is an increased risk of transmisability, but also the possibility of immunity escape everyone is very on edge at the moment back to you. >> weighing on the holiday season as we approach that quickly. thank you, matt. >>> thanksgiving weekend did kick off the start of the holiday travel season. the number of travelers is reaching close to prepandemic levels, as more people are venturing out. katie beck has more. >> reporter: this sunday after thanksgiving, some airline executives call it the super bowl of air travel >> it's a little uncomfortable but it is what it is >> reporter: long lines on the busiest travel day of the year and since the start of the pandemic >> we're very close to 2019 pre-pandemic leveling. >> reporter

many countries of stop travel from south africa or other countries in southern africa. but concerns about the economic impacts on christmas on businesses is not far away from governments across across europe. the last thing, any government wants, is a major impact on economies before we have the full facts and the data about omicron the hand. many things that need bunker in london will government surround the wealth happened imposing new restrictions in response. israel is banning all foreigners from entering the country for 2 weeks. returning citizens will need to quarantine as gay to harry forth that here is lying for us in west to wrestlin. harry israel has have the high vaccination rate despite the government is not taking that the government is taking this very seriously. that's right and, and just to say we, we just come to occupied east jerusalem here to the old city, which is one of the main tourist centers to to gauge opinion on all of this, but yesterday to elucidate exactly what's what the government has announced. and we're still waiting for final confirmati

south africa has criticized as rushed. we will be suspending all flight from 6 southern african countries and we will add in those countries to the travel read list. those countries are south africa, namibia recessive, s what teeny. and is involved way and for twana. and we will be requiring anyone that arrives from those countries from foi am on sunday to quarantine in hotels. okay, let's go live to farmer miller in johannesburg. what do we know about the new variant? whole sciences in south africa have expressed some shock at the number of mutations in this very and saying that they're more than 30. and the issue here is that that number of mutations could potentially affect how antibodies neutralize the spike protein in this particular virus. they are awaiting further daughter to determine the extent of transmissible, etc. that's really the spread of the virus from one person to another. and also just what impact it will have on people who are vaccinated an effect seeds keep people protected in south africa. a the dominant variant so far has been the delta variance, but scientists are saying this new variant has some of

work that is ongoing in south africa and in other countries to better characterise the variant itself. the us is the latest country to impose travel restrictions to affected southern african countries to slow the spread — but south africa says it's the wrong approach. stopping travel from one country, or even a _ stopping travel from one country, or even a small— stopping travel from one country, or even a small group of countries, very— even a small group of countries, very soon— even a small group of countries, very soon become super fearless. it's really— very soon become super fearless. it's really not the solution. —— superfluous. how to resolve the migrant crisis in calais? the uk and france find themselves at loggerheads as a diplomatic row breaks out. # there are bugs on her dugs, there are flies in her eyes... and one of the most influential figures in theatre, the legendery american songwriter stephen sondheim, has died at 91. hello, i'm shaun ley. welcome to those watching in the uk and around the globe. we start with growing concerns over the emergence of a new strain of covid—19 in south africa. the world health organization has in the past few hours

could be more transmissible, a growing list to restricted travel to southern africa, including south korea, the u. s. and australia, the cases have now been detected in israel, germany, u. k. and several other countries, british prime minister, or as johnson has tightened rules. our scientists are.

a grown list have restricted travel to southern africa, including south korea, the u. s. and australia. but cases have now been detected in germany, the u. k and several other countries. british farmers, devoris johnson has tightened rules in his country. our scientists are learning more.

south africa, botswana, zimbabwe, namibia, lesotho, eswatini, mozambique, and malawi. brazil, canada, the european union, iran, and the u.k. have instituted similar bans targeting nations in southern africa. south african president cyril ramaphosa criticized the travel bans and called on wealthy nations to help poorer nations gain greater access to covid vaccines. >> the emergence of the omicron variant should be a wake-up call to the world that vaccine inequality cannot be allowed to continue. until everyone is vaccinated, everyone will continue to be at risk. instead of prohibiting travel, the rich countries of the world needs to support the efforts of developing countries, economies, that is, to access and manufacture enough vaccine doses for their people without delay. amy: south african president cyril ramaphosa speaking on sunday. we go now to cape town, south africa, where we are joined by fatima hassan, the founder and director of health justice initiative. welcome to democracy now! could you respond to, first, what has been discovered in south africa, the transparency and speed with which south africa revealed what is happening to the world, and then respond to the travel