The European Union is worried about a possible third wave of Covid-19 in the autumn

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns of the rapid spread of the coronavirus delta variant. Also in the European Union (EU), this virus strain shows an upward curve. Now the summer seems to give everyone a respite, but how ready Europe is for the next possible wave of Covid-19 in the autumn, explains TV3 News.

This is the second time since the start of the pandemic in March last year that the European Parliament (EP) has met in plenary. Although the work is still provided in a hybrid model – partly in person, partly remotely – the Parliament’s chief speaker hopes that the pre-pandemic working dune will return to the Strasbourg and Brussels corridors in September.

“There are more than 400 MEPs on the ground during this part-session, up from around 100. I think even more will return in September because all MEPs, their assistants, EP staff have been vaccinated. We have certificates and we can finally return to normal life, ”explains Jaumi Duks Gijots, EP’s Director-General for Communication.

Meanwhile, the situation in Europe as a whole is less brilliant. Across the EU, just over 52% of the population have received a single vaccine against Covid-19. These statistics are mainly provided by Germany, Italy, Belgium and other countries where vaccination coverage is already above 60%. Meanwhile, vaccination in most countries, including Latvia, is still too slow.

MEP Ivars Ījabs emphasized that it is now important to get rid of restrictions, as they hinder development. He recalled that greater coverage of vaccination meant that it was possible to gradually get rid of many of the restrictions introduced by the Covid-19 pandemic: . ”

Peter Lisa, a member of the European Parliament’s Public Health Committee, emphasized that the situation was very fragile at the moment and that the only escape from the “arcade” in the autumn was vaccination: “The risk is very high, prevalence. We see what is happening in Russia. We need to be very careful, we need to be vaccinated faster and we need to be very careful about organizing mass events and organizing gatherings. If we don’t, we will have big problems in the autumn, with many people in hospitals and, unfortunately, many deaths. ”

Almost two-thirds of the population in Germany has already received the first vaccine, but, according to a German MEP, the situation cannot be resolved by one or the other Member State by achieving higher vaccination coverage. Collective immunity must be acquired by the citizens of the whole union: “We need to remind people every day, ‘go vaccinate’.” It’s silly to think it’s hot now, summer, morbidity is relatively low, why should I get vaccinated? Do it please now! The risk that the delta option will take over the whole of the European Union in the autumn and we will have to re-evaluate everything is greater than the small inconveniences you will get from the possible side effects of the vaccine. ”

At the same time, slow vaccination in the poorest regions is a threat. EU officials therefore point to the need to make vaccines more widely available to these countries. Otherwise, we will fight with alpha, delta, lambda variants for a long time. Taking into account this aspect, Latvian MEP Roberts Zīle believes that it was too early to introduce the Covid-19 digital certificate: “Well, that’s the way it is! Here we are also talking about this so-called Covid-19 certificate, with which we have both reached Strasbourg. It seems to be good, it makes it easier to move around, but this devil is in the details as usual, and that is why I was also reluctant not to use the certificate in principle, but to introduce it in July. This means that the circulation of this type of delta virus will increase. “