South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has invited scientists from the BRICS member states to visit his nation and collaborate with local experts to research the coronavirus and its variations.

"President Cyril Ramaphosa has invited scientists from fellow BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, and China - to collaborate with South African scientists in further researching the various characteristics of the COVID-19 virus and its mutations," according to a statement from the South African President's office. The statement added, "This cooperation takes place in the context of the virtual formation of the BRICS Vaccine Research and Development Centre."

The news comes as WHO announced that a technical surge team would be sent to the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal to monitor Omicron and assist with contract tracing in the wake of a spike in coronavirus reinfections.

A UN health agency panel said on Thursday that early laboratory data on the effectiveness of existing vaccines against the new COVID-19 variant is useful, but it is still unclear how effective these will be in treating severely ill patients, amidst the ongoing spread of the Omicron variant around the world. The announcement comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that current vaccines "stand up quite well" in protecting patients for six months or longer against the deadliest kinds of coronavirus illness.

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