Oct. 6 (Reuters) – As a new wave of coronavirus infections appears to be brewing in Europe and the weather cools, public health experts warn of vaccine fatigue and the shortage of available vaccines. It warns that confusion about types will likely limit booster intake.
The Omicron subvariant BA.4/5, which dominated this summer, still lags behind the majority of infections, but newer Omicron subvariants are gaining momentum. World Health Organization (WHO) officials said this week that hundreds of new forms of omicron are being tracked by scientists.
WHO data Data released late Wednesday showed that the number of confirmed cases in the European Union (EU) reached 1.5 million last week, up 8% from the previous week, despite a dramatic drop in testing. showed. Globally, the number of cases continues to decline.
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Hospitalizations have increased in recent weeks, not just in the UK, but in many countries in the 27-country bloc.
In the week ending 4 October, symptomatic COVID-19 hospitalizations surged in Italy by nearly 32%, and intensive care unit admissions increased by about 21% compared to the previous week.
In the same week, COVID hospitalizations in the UK increased by 45% compared to the previous week.
An Omicron-adapted vaccine was launched in Europe as of September, and two shots for the BA.1 and BA.4/5 subvariants are now available alongside existing first-generation vaccines. I’m here. In the UK only shots adapted to BA.1 are given the green light.
Officials in Europe and the UK only approve the latest boosters for certain groups of people, including the elderly and those with weakened immune systems. As a vaccine “choice”, it is likely to cause confusion, public health experts say.
But the willingness to get yet another shot has waned.
Professor Martin McKee (European Public Health), London School of Hygiene, said: and tropical medicine.
a false sense of security
“Overall, the concern is that intakes will be much lower.”
“Another confounding factor is that a significant proportion of the population may have experienced a COVID episode in recent months,” said Penny Ward, a visiting professor at King’s College London.
She added that some people may mistakenly feel that being sick with COVID after having a full primary education means they remain immune.
Approximately 40 million doses of vaccine manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech since 5 September, when the European Union began rolling out a new vaccine (22UAy.DE) and moderna (mRNA.O) According to data from the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC), it has been delivered to member states.
However, ECDC data showed weekly doses of vaccine administered in the EU were between 1-1.4 million in September, compared with 6-10 million per week in the same period last year.
Perhaps the biggest challenge to understanding is the perception that the pandemic is over, creating a false sense of security.
Adam Finn, chairman of ETAGE, an expert group that advises the WHO, said, “People are now having other economic and war-related concerns, at least when it comes to COVID.” Vaccine-preventable disease in Europe.
He added that some legislators are also dropping the ball.
Italy’s Gimbe Science Foundation said the government, which will change soon after elections, was ill-prepared for the autumn-winter season, highlighting that publications on the government’s management of the pandemic were blocked.
The health ministry declined to comment.
Meanwhile, UK officials warned last week that a resurgence of influenza and a resurgence of COVID-19 could put pressure on the already-stretched National Health Service (NHS).
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Reporting by Ludwig Burger from Frankfurt; Natalie Grover and Jennifer Rigby from London; Emilio Parodi from Milan; editing by William Maclean
Our criteria: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
