South African Health Minister Joe Faala called the decision of other countries to impose travel restrictions due to the new mutation "unjustified", although he confirmed that the preliminary studies that have been done so far show that the variant is more contagious.
In a press conference, the minister stressed that South Africa is acting transparently and that travel bans are contrary to the recommendations of the World Health Organization. He stressed that he would not even think about not sharing information about different strains of the new coronavirus in the future, as this is done for "the good of the world", as he said.
Faala added that the South African government has no plans to impose compulsory vaccination on citizens because of this variant. He noted that some measures will need to be taken, but the exact restrictions have not yet been decided.
South Africa's leading epidemiologist, Salim Abdul Karim, said the B.1.1.529 variant had spread to 53 countries within three weeks of its detection. "So it does not really help to close the borders. We have to find solutions to this variation together. And part of that means not overreacting," he said in an interview, calling Britain's decision to ban travel from South Africa "panicky" and understandable.
