The Omicron variant reveals the true global danger of ‘vaccine apartheid’

Sharing vaccines with poorer countries is the right thing and the self-interested thing to do. The west needs to stop being so short-sighted

Mandatory face masks are back in England. The fear factor has returned. After months of assuming the Covid-19 pandemic was all but over, the UK government has imposed new restrictions in an attempt to curb the spread of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Financial markets didn't wait for the announcement from Downing Street. It is far too early to know how big a threat the new strain poses but investors assumed the worst as soon as the reports arrived from southern Africa. Share prices fell heavily, with airline stocks the hardest hit as travel bans were re-introduced.