Despite a downward trend in cases, most of European countries remain “vulnerable” to COVID-19, WHO Europe said on Thursday, warning of “a false sense of security” because of the still number. low of vaccinated.
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“The overwhelming majority of European countries remain vulnerable,” WHO European Director Hans Kluge told a press conference.
“If we do not stop transmission now, the expected benefits of vaccinations in the fight against this pandemic may not be obvious”, insisted the UN official. For him, “at the moment, there is a fine line between the hope of a vaccine and a false sense of security”.
Out of all 53 countries in the European region for WHO (including several countries in Central Asia), the number of reported weekly cases still exceeds one million, but this total has been declining for four weeks and deaths are also falling for two weeks, according to the UN organization.
More symbolically, the number of doses of vaccines administered in the region (41 million) also exceeded the number of cases recorded since the start of the pandemic (36 million).
However, the organization’s data shows that only 1.5% of the population in 29 European countries has been vaccinated.
In the European Union, 2.9% of the population has received at least one dose, according to the AFP count on Thursday. At least 5.83 million people received their second dose, or 1.3% of the population.
It is also important that access to vaccination be equitable, regardless of the country’s wealth, the WHO reaffirmed.
“Inequitable access to vaccines can backfire. The longer the virus persists, the greater the risk of dangerous mutations, ”Kluge warned.
Across the region, 38 countries have recorded cases linked to the new so-called British strain and 19 nations have recorded cases from the South African strain, according to the latest data.
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