Covid today Europe, new wave: pandemic “driven by no vax”

Coronavirus in Europe, the fourth wave of contagions in the continent that seems to be driven, underlines the European Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides, “mainly from the unvaccinated” against Covid 19 is not subsiding. A particularly evident situation in Austria, already in total lockdown , and in Germany where the outgoing Chancellor and Minister of Health intervened yesterday to invite the population to vaccinate through a dramatic appeal. In Greece, meanwhile, as of yesterday, only vaccinated and cured public places will be able to access public places. In the midst of a new emergency, the EU is preparing to update travel recommendations to member countries from the rest of the world and to ‘promote’ the use of the Green pass. Read also “PANDEMIC DRIVEN BY THE UNVACCINATED” The EU is facing “another wave” of the Covid-19 pandemic, “mainly driven by the unvaccinated”, Kyriakides explained yesterday speaking before the plenary of the European Parliament, in Strasbourg. We are witnessing, he said, “a worryingly rapid increase” in Sars-CoV.2 positive cases “across Europe. We all know that Europe is again in the midst of another wave”, which it is “. clearly a matter of great concern to everyone “. On the role of Covid vaccines, continues Kyriakides, “the evidence is clear: vaccination works and remains the most effective tool we have to keep people safe”. Vaccines “are undoubtedly effective against serious illness, hospitalization and death. Even with the dominant Delta variant,” which is more contagious, “deaths continue to be prevented by vaccination. All of this is based. on scientific evidence “. “Many people across Europe – continues Kyriakides – would be in a much worse situation if there were no vaccines, deployed” throughout the Union quickly, thanks to the joint purchase by the Commission on behalf of the States. “Now we are facing a pandemic mainly driven by the unvaccinated. The growing numbers are unfortunately fueling the hesitation to get vaccinated. And we must all adopt a firm stance”, the Commissioner said. Vaccination, she added, “continues to be there. ‘fundamental weapon in our arsenal, but at the same time, until high vaccination levels are achieved and the situation is under control, it is important that non-pharmaceutical measures “such as masks and spacing,” when necessary “remain in place. . “You have to get vaccinated – continues Kyriakides – masks and spacing are important, but vaccination is saving thousands of lives. Vaccination is necessary, but not enough. Therapies are also needed: for this reason we are also ensuring the supply of therapies” against Covid- 19, with an “ambitious strategy”, based on a “portfolio of 10 therapies, the most promising”. But that’s not all: “We are preparing – he announced – an update of the Council’s recommendations on freedom of movement in the EU. The proposal, which will be adopted this week, will promote and recognize the important role of the Covid digital certificate”, or Green Pass. , “that travelers take with them”. “We will also update the recommendations on travel to the EU from the rest of the world. Coordination and collaboration are essential”, he stressed. “DRAMATIC” SITUATION IN GERMANY: “VACCINATED, HEALED OR DEAD” The picture of the covid epidemic in Germany “is dramatic “and Angela Merkel does not consider the current measures in place sufficient to contain the wave of covid infections. “We have a highly dramatic situation. What is currently in force is not enough,” said the Chancellor quoted by some participants in the internal consultations at the top of the CDU in which Merkel participated yesterday in connection from the Chancellery. “We have a situation – he added – that will go beyond what we have had so far. Vaccination is important and right but it does not help to stop the spread except over a longer period”. “Vaccinated, cured or dead” by the end of the ‘winter, the formula used by the German health minister, Jens Spahn, to sum up the picture of the emergency in the country. In the face of a variant, the highly contagious Delta, the minister reiterated the call to be vaccinated, recalling that the issue of the vaccine is not purely personal. “There is a duty of solidarity”, he declared, recalling the increase in cases and the situation of hospitals in the country.
“The situation of the Coronavirus is very worrying and is not under control at the moment”, the picture of the president of the Interdisciplinary Association of Intensive and Emergency Medicine in Germany (Divi), Gernot Marx, who alerted the German political class urging them to prepare the possibility that the circulation of the virus is completely out of control. Currently over 3,670 Covid-19 patients are treated in intensive care units in Germany, 1,200 of them hospitalized last week. In some regions, such as Bavaria, Thuringia and Saxony, there are acute overload situations in the care units intensive that force to transfer patients and postpone scheduled interventions. Marx warned that if the new rules approved to contain the pandemic do not yield results, additional measures will have to be planned on December 9, when the premieres of the 16 Laender will meet to assess whether the measures in place are sufficient. AUSTRIA IN TOTAL LOCKDOWN Austria is returned yesterday in lockdown, the fourth since the start of the pandemic decided to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus after the number of deaths has tripled in recent weeks. It is the first Western European country to restore it. The new measures will remain in force for at least ten days, but could be as many as twenty if the contagion situation does not improve and if the intensive care units, now at the limit of capacity, fail to free up beds. vaccinations against Covid-19 are mandatory starting from February 1st. Only about 66 per cent of the 8.9 million Austrians are fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in Western Europe. In lockdown, people will only be able to leave the house to go to work, play outdoor sports or travel in shops to buy essential goods. Most restaurants and bars will only be able to provide takeaway lunches, while cultural events are suspended. As for sporting events, they will only be held behind closed doors. On the other hand, schools remain open, with the faculty of parents to decide whether or not to send their children to class. IN GREECE ONLY VACCINATED AND HEALED IN PUBLIC PLACES Starting from yesterday in Greece, in the meantime, in Greece it will be necessary to be vaccinated or cured by covid 19 to access places public such as bars, restaurants, cinemas, theaters, museums and gyms. The measures imposed by the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis also include staggered shifts for public employees, with the obligation to wear masks at work. The new restrictions aim to curb infections and encourage vaccination, at lower levels than the European average. In this country of 10.7 million inhabitants, 7,287 new infections and 105 deaths were recorded yesterday. In hospitals there are 608 patients attached to respirators, of which 503 are not immunized or with a single dose of vaccine.