WHO allays fears of Africans over new coronavirus variant On Kindly Share This Story: Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, on Thursday, allayed fears of Africans over new variant of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), saying “no need to panic because new variant is emerging.” Moeti said this while answering questions from some journalists on the impact of the new variant and COVID-19 vaccine at WHO Regional Office for Africa first online press briefing for 2021. The regional director said the UN health agency would follow up on the report on the new variant. “There is nothing to panic about, we need to apply science; we need to reinforce public health response.