Priority letter: the Omicron variant
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
4.5 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 29 November 2021
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Governments’ rapid responses to a new coronavirus strain were wise. But much is still to be learned about the Omicron variant before longer-term policies can be prescribed. Vietnam’s government wants to create internationally competitive firms, and a growing new class of billionaires suggests the plan is working. And research suggests that social distancing comes naturally to bees under pathogenic threat.
Have your say about “The Intelligence” in our survey here
www.economist.com/intelligencesurvey. And for full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist. |
| 0:06.8 | I'm your host, Jason Palmer. |
| 0:08.8 | Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:14.8 | Vietnam's economy is on a tear and the country is just starting to produce its first billionaires. |
| 0:23.8 | In other countries, big companies with mega-rich bosses are increasingly subject to government |
| 0:28.6 | scrutiny. |
| 0:29.6 | In Vietnam, they're getting lots of government help. |
| 0:35.0 | And for humans, social distancing is a concept that must be relearned each time there's |
| 0:39.5 | an epidemic. |
| 0:40.5 | It's a lesson that bees seem to know already. |
| 0:43.8 | They figured out how to spread out to reduce the effects of a deadly might-infestation. |
| 0:55.9 | But first, when a new respiratory disease cropped up in Wuhan, China in 2019, it took |
| 1:06.9 | a month for the warning to go up. |
| 1:08.6 | It took another month for America to ban flights from China. |
| 1:13.0 | This time around, when a worrying new variant of the coronavirus was identified in South |
| 1:17.0 | Africa, the response took just days. |
| 1:20.1 | We take this Omicron variant very serious and we know that we are now in a race against |
| 1:26.4 | time. |
| 1:27.4 | We need to slow down the spread of this variant here in the UK. |
| 1:31.2 | If you're not vaccinated, get vaccinated. |
| 1:33.2 | If you're fully vaccinated, get boosted and get the children vaccinated also. |
| 1:38.7 | America, Britain and the European Union have banned flights from a handful of countries |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Economist, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Economist and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.