The EU health agency ECDC on Wednesday warned that vaccinations alone would not stop the rise of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, and said “strong action” was urgently needed.
“In the current situation, vaccination alone will not allow us to prevent the impact of the Omicron variant, because there will be no time to address the vaccination gaps that still exist,” Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), said in a statement.
The agency meanwhile also raised their risk assessment for Omicron’s impact on public health from “high to very high” to “very high”.
The agency called for strengthening and reintroduction of “non-pharmaceutical interventions”, such as mask-wearing, hand hygiene, distance working and prevention of crowds in public spaces.
“It is urgent that strong action is taken to reduce transmission and alleviate the heavy burden on health care systems and protect the most vulnerable in the coming months,” Ammon added.
Ammon said that “there are indications that community transmission is already ongoing in EU/EEA countries”, and that modelling suggested that a further rapid increase in Omicron cases was “imminent”.
EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said the report from the ECDC showed that “the coming months will be difficult”.
“Omicron is likely to come in a big wave, bringing renewed pressure on health care systems,” Kyriakides said in a statement.
She stressed that 66 percent of the EU population had been fully vaccinated, but said the countries of the union could do better and that “boosters should be our wave-breaker”.
“We need utmost respect of public health measures, combined with a rapid increase in booster vaccination to address Omicron,” Kyriakides added, noting that it was “very worrying” that some countries lagged in their vaccination rollout and that 50 percent of the populations in four member states were still not fully vaccinated.
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday that the Omicron variant had been reported in 77 countries and had “probably” spread to most nations undetected “at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant”.
Tedros also cautioned against “dismissing Omicron as mild”, pointing out that even if the variant does cause less severe disease, “the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems”.
‘We have enough vaccines in Europe’
Earlier on Wednesday EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned the Omicron variant of Covid-19 could become dominant in Europe next month, but said her 27-nation bloc had ample vaccines to fight the pandemic.
“If you look at the time it takes for new cases to double in number, it seems to be doubling every two or three days. And that’s massive. We’re told that by mid-January, we should expect Omicron to be the new dominant variant in Europe,” von der Leyen told the European Parliament, pointing to scientific data.
“But over the last year, we’ve worked hard and we’ve achieved a great deal and that is why Europe is in a better position now to fight the virus,” she said.
Von der Leyen insisted there were “enough vaccine doses for every European now” as EU countries push to deliver booster jabs to combat the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.
“We’re now in a position to produce 300 million doses of the vaccine per month here in Europe,” she said.
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Pro tip: Nothing will ever be enough
It’s been 2 years, 4 shots, face muzzles, waiting in line on designated stickers, shutdowns, lockdowns, remote working, more lockdowns, more boosters… it will NEVER be enough until the “controllers” get what they want. How is it nobody can see the damn forest for the trees here? It just gets more and more absurd as the days go on, and everyone just lines up to jump off the cliff like good little lemmings.
My faith in humanity is the lowest its ever been.
Dear Covidiot, I was so pleased to read your comments. Last time I wrote something similar on here, I was shot down in flames. Readers on here do not want to accept intelligent remarks like yours. I’m surprised no one has replied with some nasty remark.
Well done and thank you. Don’t give up the fight. Many people are starting to realise what a money making farce it’s all been.
Europe has for some reason decided to kill itself. History will look back with sheer astonishment on why a prosperous free continent decided to just give up, kneel over and die….
Greetings from a free state across the pond
The agency called for strengthening and reintroduction of “non-pharmaceutical interventions”, such as mask-wearing, hand hygiene, distance working and prevention of crowds in public spaces.
How about “get fresh air, don’t overwork yourself, take care of yourself, eat and sleep well, surround yourself with good people”? Years after this mess we will be hearing cheers and toasts about how we conquered milionth variant, but noone will care about increased depression, abandonment, lack of purpose and enormous stress people get. I started being grateful that we can experience this global chaos to see how we as society are really divided and cannot communicate.
How about all of the above for your health plus follow scientifically proven measures on preventing the spread of a novel coronavirus that is ravaging vulnerable populations around globe?
Not everyone can go for a walk or enjoy themselves as you suggest such as the elderly or medically vulnerable, who will be the ultimate victims of this obsessive medical libertarianism that seems so prevalent here.
A minor inconvenience in your lifestyle is a life saving measure for them.
I’m sure those who died due to lack of appropriate measures in elderly homes at the start of the pandemic in Sweden would have appreciated the opportunity to actually stay alive due to these simple preventative steps.