The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that, from this moment until next March 1, Europe will have exceeded two million deaths from Covid-19, that is, 700,000 more deaths, amid the rebound in the pandemic. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control recommended the reinforcement of vaccination just when in the last hours part of the continent registered new records of infections; including the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
Europe, which has once again become the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic, would exceed two million deaths from the virus by March 1, 2022, according to the forecasts of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Around 700,000 people could die from the new coronavirus if the current rate of infections and hospitalizations is maintained, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned.
WHO forecasts suggest that 25 countries in the European region risk facing a shortage of hospital beds. In addition, 49 of the 50 that make up the continent, would reach a situation of high or extreme stress in the Intensive Care Units (ICU) from now until at least the first quarter of 2022.
“To live with this virus and continue with our daily lives we need an approach that exceeds the vaccine. That means receiving the standard doses and a booster if it is offered,” WHO-Europe director Hans Kluge said in a statement.
This recommendation of the WHO coincides with the one presented by the health authorities of Europe, in the middle of a day of new records of infections in several nations of the region, such as Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Europe reconsiders booster vaccines amid spike in infections
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the public health agency of the European Union (EU), recommended booster vaccines for all adults on Wednesday, with priority for those over 40 years of age.
The position was immediately endorsed by the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen.
New @ECDC_EU risk assessment is clear: we must step up vaccination to control the pandemic.
We want to convince people to get vaccinated.⁰
Boosters should be available for adults, with priority for people over 40 and vulnerable people.
And let’s keep distance and masks!– Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) November 24, 2021
This is a significant shift in the policies established so far by the European health authority. Although several EU countries have already started giving booster doses to their populations, they use different criteria to establish priorities and different intervals between the first injections and boosters.
“Available evidence from Israel and the UK shows a significant increase in protection against contagion and serious illness after a booster dose in all age groups in the short term,” the ECDC said in a report.
The director of the ECDC, Andrea Ammon, said that booster vaccines would increase protection against contagion, which would be produced by a decrease in immunity. The third doses, then, “could potentially reduce transmission in the population and prevent additional hospitalizations and deaths,” he explained.
The expert advised countries with low vaccination levels to accelerate their implementation and warned of the high risks of a further increase in deaths and hospitalizations in Europe between December and January if the recommended measures are not implemented.
The WHO added that to the booster immunization must be added the reintegration of actions such as the use of masks indoors, constant hand hygiene, social distancing and ventilation of spaces, measures that it considers key to “avoid an unnecessary tragedy and loss of life “.
Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic set new records of infections
Slovakia reported its largest daily increase in Covid-19 infections on Wednesday, reporting 10,315 new cases.
The information was released just before a government meeting that will probably agree to a short-term blockade to try to quell the outbreak.
In the Czech Republic, the records of more people contracting the disease also reached a record again in the last 24 hours.
The daily count reached 25,864, about 3,000 more than the previous record recorded on Friday. In this country around 58% of the population is immunized, one of the lowest rates in Europe.
Given the situation, the Czech authorities indicated that they could make vaccination mandatory for people over 60 years of age.
Hungary reported a record 12,637 new daily COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 1,045 million with 33,519 deaths, a government tally showed on Wednesday. https://t.co/j0PrLRaPJC
– Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) November 24, 2021
Meanwhile, Hungary also reported a daily peak of cases. This nation with only 10 million people reported 12,637 new infections, bringing the total to 1,045,000 and 33,519 deaths.
Official data released in the last hours show that 5.81 million people, that is to say just under 60% of the population, have been fully vaccinated, while 2.04 million have received booster injections.
Hungary has made reinforcements mandatory for health workers and the use of masks has been required again in most closed places since last Saturday 20 November.
However, the changes have failed to contain the virus in another European country with low immunization figures, compared to 88% in Portugal and 81% in Spain.
In recent days, the rebound of the pandemic was led by Germany, where alarms were set with a vaccinated population of around 70%, while many still refuse to be inoculated. The reimposition of measures such as the prohibition of the unvaccinated in Berlin to enter public places “will not be enough,” recognized Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Ministry of Health recommended this Wednesday the obligatory nature of antidotes for workers in hospitals and residences for the elderly.
And Austria entered a national lockdown on March 22, becoming the first country in Europe to reimpose the drastic measure.
With Reuters, AP and EFE
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