EU States Need to Act Now and Be Prepared for a New COVID Wave, Health Commissioner Says
The Commissioner said that the bloc has been registering an increase in severe cases and advised that everyone get vaccinated to avoid hospital admissions. In addition, the Commissioner called on the authorities to act now to address the infections increase, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
“COVID19 infections are again on the rise across the EU, which is leading to an increase in severe cases, hospital admissions, and mortality. We need to act now to address this and be prepared for autumn. Vaccination remains our strongest protection against severe disease and death,” Kyriakides wrote on her official Twitter account.
Reuters explains that Kyriakides told Cyrpus state radio that the countries should take measures to avoid further burdening the economies and societies.
In addition, she recommended that all persons over the age of 60 as well as those vulnerable, get vaccinated with another booster shot.
“I once again urge everyone to seek vaccination, including second boosters for over 60s as well as those who are vulnerable. Today’s updated recommendations on vaccination and surveillance of respiratory diseases will support the monitoring of COVID19 and any future pandemics,” Kyrialides added.
The call of the Commissioner follows the forecast made by the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO said last week that the countries would experience challenging autumn and winter this year.
WHO’s Regional Director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P.Kluge, said that Europe is currently in a similar situation to last summer and explained that with the rising infection cases, the European countries are seeing a rise in hospitalisations.
According to Kluge, the number of hospitalisations is set to rise even more as schools open, people return from holidays, and they start frequenting indoor places.
However, he noted that if the authorities act immediately, they can help reduce the anticipated disruptions to society.
Data provided by WHO show that France, Germany, Italy, and Spain have reported the highest number of Coronavirus infection cases in the last seven days. France recorded 440,833 infection cases, Germany recorded 552,883 infection cases, Italy recorded 514,206 infection cases, and Spain recorded 114,387 infection cases in the last seven days.
Other countries, such as the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Austria, have also been registering increased COVID infection cases.
As for the vaccination rates, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control shows that 53.0 per cent of the population in the EU/EEA has already received the first booster shot, and another 5.1 per cent has received the second booster shot.
