Vaccination rates in the EU are well behind schedule

Observing the prevalence of the highly contagious Delta strain of Covid-19, there are pessimistic forecasts of the epidemiological situation at the end of the summer, as with some exceptions the vaccination rate in the entire European Union (EU) is still far behind schedule, reports TV3 News.

The spread of the delta variant threatens to trigger a new wave of viral infections across the EU. In Cyprus, Portugal and Spain, which Latvia has already included in the list of high-risk countries, the 14-day culmination rate already exceeds 200 cases per 100,000 population. Germany, France, Italy and Austria also feared that a fourth wave of Covid-19 could come as early as the end of July.

“We must not lose vigilance, we see that mutations in the virus are developing very fast. Of course, it is important to give our citizens freedoms, while not relaxing and not thinking that the fight against the virus has been won, ”says Urzula von der Leiena, President of the European Commission.

Portugal has already reached the fourth wave and the dangerous Delta variant is dominant there. Almost 60% of the Portuguese population have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine. Officials say the vaccine is proving effective, although the number of infections is rising, there is no increase in workload in hospitals.

‘In Portugal, we see that the vaccine protects – perhaps not from infection, but there is a very, very small chance of getting into intensive care with a chance of surviving 50 and 50. What we see now in Portugal, yes, we have a fairly high infection rate, but mortality has decreased. That’s what the vaccine does, ”says Sarah Serdasa MEP, Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, Portugal.

Accelerating vaccination rates is currently a priority. The need for compulsory vaccination is being discussed more and more actively – especially for doctors and teachers. In our neighboring Estonia, too, vaccination has been made compulsory for all employees of the Tallinn emergency service. Officials stress that in a pandemic situation, when another outbreak of Covid-19 is breathing in the back of the neck, any means are allowed to achieve collective immunity as soon as possible. The biggest adversaries in this fight are vaccine deniers and increasingly loud misinformation campaigns.

Mikhail Gehler, MEP, European People’s Party, Germany

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“I think it’s good to do everything that helps. It seems to me that there are too many people consuming the wrong media. Two days ago, I was at a school in Frankfurt and there young people say why I need to get vaccinated because so many people have died – I asked what? So many people? Where do these nonsense come from? It is not true. Here is the result that people are unfortunately caught up in these conspiracy theories. ”

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Germany, where it is vaccinated, well over 60% of the population, emphasizes that the key to their success is clear government communication with the public. There, people are not motivated by cash prizes or other benefits to persuade people to get vaccinated.

“In Germany, we do not need to think about such tools. Because a lot of people are still waiting for their vaccines. We initially had problems with the availability of vaccines, but now vaccines are available to anyone who wants to. I believe that there are two tools that are enough: firstly, vaccines are available, clear information and the benefits that you can get if you are vaccinated, but, of course, each country can decide on its own rules, it is a national matter. ” concludes Peter Lee MEP (European People’s Party, Germany).