Eye Clinic in Russia Sues WHO Because of Variant Name Omicron, Why?

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Eye Clinic in Russia Sues WHO Because of Variant Name Omicron, Why?

A businessman in Siberia filed a lawsuit against the Russian branch of the World Health Organization (WHO). This happened because he was worried that the naming of a new variant of COVID-19 Omicron would damage its business image.

The CEO of the Omicron Network ophthalmology clinic, Alexander Padar, filed the claim with the Moscow Court of Arbitration on November 30.

Quoted from the News NPR page, he emphasized that the use of the word Omicron which refers to the new variant of COVID-19 and other infections must be blacklisted.

"Our name is a registered trademark, especially in the field of medicine and health care, because this is our core service. Several variants of the corona virus have damaged our reputation," said Padar.

He also noted that the bad stigma associated with Omicron could be related to the name of the clinic.

"Think about it, if a friend or relative dies from Omicron. You can't possibly go to a clinic with the same name," Padar says.

Padar stressed that he had invested large sums of money to advertise his clinic. But now, with the emergence of this new variant, people tend to recognize omicron as a disease variant, not a health clinic.

Padar is worried that he will suffer huge financial losses because of the designation of this new variant.

The COVID-19 variant has until recently been given the WHO name based on the letters of the Greek alphabet due to its geographic and political neutrality. The Omicron variant was originally coded B.1.1.529 which was reported by South Africa to WHO and later classified as a variant of concern (VoC).

To date, at least 45 countries and regions have recorded the Omicron variant. This signifies that the battle with the pandemic is not over.