Covid, WHO: “Vaccines work against variants”

Vaccines approved so far work against coronavirus variants. To say Hans Kluge, director of the Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Europe, during the press conference: “All the variants of the Covid-19 virus that have emerged so far respond to the vaccines approved and available today”, he underlined. “The new variant (B.1.617) first identified in India has now been identified in at least 26 out of 53 countries in the WHO European Region: from Austria to Greece from Israel to Kyrgyzstan”, Kluge later explained.
“The incidence of cases remained high in eight countries in the region last week, with more than 150 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The pandemic is not over yet,” he said. “In several countries there are still growing pockets of transmission that could rapidly evolve into dangerous upsurge”, warned Kluge, who however added: “Covid cases and deaths are decreasing. Weekly infections in Europe have dropped from a plateau of 1.7 million in mid-April, to nearly 685,000 new cases last week. This is a 60% decrease in one month. “For Kluge,” we are still facing a continuing threat and new uncertainties. we must continue to be cautious and rethink or avoid international travel. Vaccines may be the light at the end of the tunnel, but we cannot be blinded by that light, “noted Kluge.