The World Health Organisation has attributed Europe’s lack of vaccine coverage to the rise in coronavirus cases in the area. This is expected to cause another half-million deaths in the next three month.
The WHO’s Europe office head warned that the region is now ‘back in the middle of the pandemic’ due to a high number of infections.
According to the WHO, there are now 78 million cases within the European region. This includes 53 countries and territories as well as several Central Asian nations. The WHO said that the total number of cases is greater than the combined death tolls of South East Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean region, Africa, and the Western Pacific.
Hans Kluge, WHO Europe director attributed the high caseload to Europe’s insufficient vaccination coverage.
While Britain was able, within weeks of the approval of the Pfizer/AstraZeneca vaccines, to administer 20 million jabs in record time, EU leaders lacked the necessary infrastructure to implement a vaccine plan.
France and Germany fought back and forth about whether to offer the AstraZeneca jab. This caused doubts among the public, and resulted in a low level of vaccine uptake.
It is the most recent coronavirus case in Germany, the EU’s largest country with 33,949 cases.
Germany’s federal health minister warned that the country is facing a’massive pandemic’ of unvaccinated people and that there are already a shortage of intensive care beds in some areas.
On Thursday, Britain became the first country to approve Merck’s anticovid pill for treating mild to moderate coronavirus infection.
Sajid Javid, the Health Minister, described the molnupiravir as an antiviral that would be a game-changer for the immunosuppressed and most vulnerable.
Hans Kluge, WHO Europe director, attributed the rise in covid cases to Europe’s insufficient vaccination coverage’
Hans Kluge, WHO Europe director, stated that the current pace of transmission in the 53 European Region countries is a concern. He also said that one reliable projection would indicate ‘another half million COVID-19 deaths’ by February, if the current trajectory continues.
Kluge, WHO Europe headquarters in Copenhagen (Denmark), stated that “We are at another crucial point of pandemic recovery.” “Europe is back at the epicenter for the pandemic, exactly where we were a year ago.”
He said that health authorities now know more about the virus, and have better tools for fighting it.
Kluge blamed the high caseload on insufficient vaccination coverage and ‘the relaxation by some public health and other social measures’. He said that measures such as testing, tracing and physical distancing were still an important part of the ‘arsenal” in fighting the virus.
He said that hospital admission rates were higher for countries with lower vaccination rates.
Kluge stated that hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have more than doubled in the 53-country region over the past week. Kluge said that the region could experience another half a million deaths from pandemics by February if this trend continues.
WHO Europe states that the region recorded nearly 1.8million new weekly cases, an increase in about 6% over the previous week, and 24,000 COVID-19 Weekly deaths, a 12% rise.
Kluge stated that the countries in the region were in ‘varying stages’ of vaccination rollout and that 47% of the population was fully vaccinated. Only eight countries had 70 percent of their population fully vaccinated.
The effective vaccination has resulted in fewer deaths in countries like the UK, where there have been 41,299 cases.
He said, “This is a reflection of the life-saving efforts made by vaccines and the Herculean task that health authorities, the health workforce, and communities must undertake to develop, administer, and accept vaccines.”
A specialist and an intensive-care nurse are busy caring for a Covid-19 victim in the Covid-19 ICU at Dresden Municipal Hospital in Dresden (Germany) on Wednesday
Speaking about the countries with a low vaccine rollout, Kluge said: ‘We must change our tactics, from reacting to surges of COVID-19, to preventing them from happening in the first place.’
WHO headquarters in Geneva reported Wednesday that the number of cases in Europe had risen for the fifth consecutive day. This makes Europe the only global region where COVID-19 has not increased. The infection rate in Europe was the highest, with an average of 192 new cases per 100,000.
Several countries in Central and Eastern Europe have seen daily case numbers shoot up in recent weeks, with about 250,000 cases and 3,600 deaths per day.
According to official data, Russia led the rise in deaths with 8,162 deaths over the past seven days. Ukraine was next with 3,819 deaths, and Romania had 3,100 deaths.
Globally, the virus has claimed the lives of more than 5 million people. The total number of cases has reached 248 million.
However, the WHO estimates that the true death toll from the pandemic could be up to two to three times greater than the official records. This is due to the excessive mortality directly and indirectly related to Covid-19.
Germany was initially praised for its handling the pandemic. However, there has been mounting concern about the rapid rise in cases and slow uptake of vaccinations among adults.
Official figures show that only 66.9% of the German population had been fully immunized as of Thursday, despite vaccines being readily available.
Official figures show that around two-thirds (83 million) of the country’s population have received one dose. 16.2 million people aged 12 and above are still unvaccinated, including 3.2 millions over-60s.
“We are currently experiencing mainly the pandemic of unvaccinated people and it’s massive,” Mr Spahn stated on Wednesday, warning that there are ‘insufficient intensive care beds in some areas of Germany’.
He said that the number and severity of infections are increasing as well as deaths from Covid. He also noted that intensive care units are becoming more common in certain regions of Germany, where vaccination rates may not be as high as in other areas.
“The truth is that there would have been far fewer Covid-19 patients in intensive treatment if everyone could get vaccinated.”
Jens Spahn, Germany’s federal health minister, warned that the country is facing a’massive pandemic’ of unvaccinated people.
Senior health officials in Germany have repeatedly appealed for German residents who haven’t been vaccinated to do so. But Mr Spahn said that many of these people aren’t convinced.
Officials agreed in August that booster shots would be made available to seniors, residents of nursing homes, and staff, but so far, just over 2,000,000 have been administered.
Contrary to European counterparts, Germany has not made coronavirus vaccinations mandatory for professional groups.
Spahn calls for unvaccinated people being vaccinated to curb the rise in infections.
Angela Merkel (the outgoing Chancellor), who called the coronavirus trend “very worrying”, indicated she was for tighter curbs that are focused on the unvaccinated.
Merkel spoke through Steffen Seibert, her spokesperson.
A recent survey found that most German adults who are not yet vaccinated against Covid have no plans to do so.
Lothar Wieler, RKI chief, said alongside Mr Spahn, Berlin, that there is a high risk of infection for those who are not vaccinated.
“If we don’t take action now, the fourth wave will continue to bring great suffering. Many people will fall seriously ill and eventually die. The health care system will also be severely burdened.
Mr Spahn called for more thorough checks at establishments or events where only those who can show they have been vaccinated, recovered from Covid or recently tested negative are allowed to enter.
He stated that only those who have been fully vaccinated should be allowed to enter the hard-hit areas.
He said that it had nothing to do with vaccine bullying but with avoiding overuse of the healthcare system.
He also suggested a stronger push on booster jabs, stating that the current pace was ‘insufficient’.
Angela Merkel, the outgoing Chancellor, has described the coronavirus trend as “very worrying” and indicated that she was for stricter restrictions on those who are not vaccinated
Mr Spahn’s plea for all vaccinated Germans to get a third jab after six months is however at odds with the nation’s STIKO vaccine commission, which for now is only recommending booster shots for the elderly and certain at-risk groups.
Leif Erik Sander, who is the head of a research group on infection immunology in Berlin’s Charite Hospital, stated that elderly people need a booster.
“Our studies have shown that around 40% of people over 70 do not have neutralizing antibodies against the Delta variant six to twelve months after their vaccination,” he said.
After several deaths from nursing home residents, there has been increasing pressure to institute mandatory tests.
Ulrich Weigeldt (head of the association for family doctors) demanded that all employees in nursing homes and hospitals be vaccinated against coronavirus on Thursday.
Weigeldt stated that no unvaccinated person should come in contact with vulnerable groups, either as a visitor or professionally. “This applies to senior citizen and nursing homes, as well as intensive care units.
The Covid surge occurs as Germany is still in political limbo after September’s general elections. The Social Democrats won the election and hope to have a new coalition government in place by December 1.
The incoming coalition parties have sofar ruled out mandatory vaccinations and stated there would be no new lockdowns for the vaccinated.
However, Germany’s federal system gives regional states significant power to decide their Covid approach. This can sometimes lead to confusing patchwork regulations.
The regional governments are limiting access to indoor events and facilities for people who have been vaccinated or have recently recovered from being tested. Some are tightening those restrictions.
After breaching a threshold on the number of beds in intensive care, Baden-Wuerttemberg, a southwestern state, introduced new rules Wednesday to address the fourth wave.
Adults who are not vaccinated must now be able to show a negative PCR for many activities such as indoor dining, museum admissions, and entry into gyms. The tests can be expensive at up to 50 euros ($58).
Friday will see tougher restrictions in the eastern state of Saxony.
Its proposed ‘2G’ plans would exclude unvaccinated individuals from indoor dining, leisure facilities, as well as bars, nightclubs, under its proposed plans.