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A woman receives an Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium in Cwmbran, South Wales, Britain, Feb 17, 2021. (File photo: Geoff Caddick/Pool via REUTERS) - 

Future pandemics could be even more lethal than COVID-19 so the lessons learned from the outbreak must not be squandered and the world should ensure it is prepared for the next viral onslaught, one of the creators of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine said.

The coronavirus has killed 5.26 million people across the world, according to Johns Hopkins University, wiped out trillions of dollars in economic output and turned life upside down for billions of people.

"The truth is, the next one could be worse. It could be more contagious, or more lethal, or both," Sarah Gilbert said in the Richard Dimbleby Lecture, the BBC reported on Monday (Dec 6). "This will not be the last time a virus threatens our lives and our livelihoods."

Gilbert, a professor of vaccinology at the University of Oxford, said the world should make sure it is better prepared for the next virus.

"The advances we have made, and the knowledge we have gained, must not be lost," she said.

Efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic have been uneven and fragmented, marked by limited access to vaccines in low-income countries while the "healthy and wealthy" in rich countries get boosters, health experts say.

A panel of health experts set up by the World Health Organization to review the handling of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has called for permanent funding and for greater ability to investigate pandemics through a new treaty.

One proposal was for new financing of at least US$10 billion a year for pandemic preparedness.

The COVID-19 outbreak was first detected in China in late 2019. Vaccines were developed against the virus in record time.

Gilbert said the Omicron variant's spike protein contained mutations known to increase the transmissibility of the virus.

"There are additional changes that may mean antibodies induced by the vaccines, or by infection with other variants, may be less effective at preventing infection with Omicron," Gilbert said.

"Until we know more, we should be cautious, and take steps to slow down the spread of this new variant."//CNA

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare is facing a no-confidence vote, after he was accused of corruption and of using Chinese funds to prop up his government (Photo: AFP/File/ROBERT TAUPONGI) - 

Solomon Islands leader Manasseh Sogavare survived a vote of no confidence Monday (Dec 6), the latest battle in a decades-long career marked by deadly riots, interisland tensions, and increasingly close ties to Beijing.

The 66-year-old four-time prime minister has again showed he still has plenty of fight, refusing to yield to attempts to oust him in parliament and on the streets, where recent violent protests destroyed swathes of the capital Honiara.

The wiry former accounting student has twice been ousted in votes of no confidence, and he appeared determined not to make it three.

For two hours Sogavare thundered at his opponents on the floor of parliament, at points shaking with rage before he secured enough votes to live another day as prime minister.

"We must stand up to this tyranny," he screamed, banging his chair as he threatened opponents and vowed never to "bow down to the forces of evil".

But the son of Seventh Day Adventist missionaries faces testing days ahead.

The presence of international peacekeepers has kept a lid on violence that erupted late last month but their deployment is expected to last only weeks.

And Sogavare seems in no mood to listen to his detractors, who see a leader who has become increasingly autocratic since his latest stint in power began in 2019.

"He used to be a listening prime minister," said Transparency Solomon Islands chief executive Ruth Liloqula. "Now that's not the case."

Liloqula points to several major reforms that were pushed through without consultation, including his plan to extend the electoral term to five years and his switch in diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China.

"He is a prime minister who is actually abusing and misusing the power of the state to do as he pleases, that's the main issue people are concerned about," she told AFP.

Sogavare first became prime minister in 2000 when he was supported by rebels from Malaita, the Solomons' most populous island, which is now the wellspring of opposition to his rule.

The Solomon Islands topped a recent survey on corruption by Transparency International, with 97 per cent of respondents rating it a big problem in government.

Another survey earlier this year found 66 per cent of Solomon Islanders thought their country was heading in the wrong direction, with only 18 per cent optimistic about the future.

That is difficult terrain to navigate, even for a consummate political survivor//CNA

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa wears a face mask as he looks on during a visit with Ivory Coast's Prime Minister Patrick Achi at the port in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Dec 3, 2021. (File photo: Reuters/Luc Gnago) - 

South Africa is preparing its hospitals for more admissions, as the Omicron coronavirus variant pushes the country into a fourth wave of COVID-19 cases, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday (Dec 6).

Omicron was first detected in southern Africa last month and has triggered global alarm as governments fear another surge in infections.

South Africa's daily infections surged last week to more than 16,000 on Friday from roughly 2,300 on Monday.

Ramaphosa said in a weekly newsletter that Omicron appeared to be dominating new cases in most of the country's nine provinces and urged more people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

"South Africa now has sufficient supplies of vaccines, ... vaccination is essential for our economic recovery because as more people are vaccinated more areas of economic activity will be opened up," he said.

The government would soon convene the National Coronavirus Command Council to review the state of the pandemic and decide whether further measures are needed to keep people safe, Ramaphosa said.

Scientists in South Africa and other countries are racing to establish whether Omicron is more contagious, causes more severe disease and is more resistant to existing vaccines.

But some anecdotal accounts from doctors and experts in South Africa are reassuring, suggesting that many infections it causes are mild.

"We are keeping a close eye on the rates of infection and hospitalisation," Ramaphosa said//CNA

A drone picture of a person working at the Horta de Manguinhos (Manguinhos vegetable garden), the biggest urban garden in Latin America, part of the project "Hortas Cariocas" developed by Rio de Janeiro's Environment Secretary in the Manguinhos favela. (Photo: Reuters/Pilar Olivares) - 

The Manguinhos neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, a slum where addicts once smoked crack and residents dumped trash, has been transformed into a community vegetable garden that now feeds some 800 families struggling with rampant food inflation.

The urban garden covers the area of four football fields, according to Rio de Janeiro's "Hortas Cariocas" program coordinators, making it one of the largest of its kind in Latin America.

"This particular area was used as a 'cracolândia'," said Julio Cesar Barros, an agronomist employed by the city.

"If you arrived here on a Wednesday at 10 in the morning, you could find two or three thousand people smoking crack in this area."

Barros said he helped create the "Hortas Cariocas" project in 2006 to plant vegetables in various parts of the city and supply organic products to lower-income residents. He said urban gardens also helped prevent irregular occupation of dangerous areas prone to flooding or landslides.

"While I am planting (seeds) I am thinking that in a few days I will be harvesting this and taking it home to eat it," said Diane Silva, an urban farm worker. "I know I am planting to harvest tomorrow ... it gives a lot of pleasure to work in a garden, it is a job that we enjoy, I love this."

The project has now expanded to 49 vegetable gardens across Rio, according to Barros.

Ezequiel Dias, a Manguinhos resident who helps to coordinate the project, said the initiative has transformed his community.

"It changed the face of Manguinhos… our communities need exactly this: peace, happiness and a better life."//CNA