The European Commission on Friday urged European Union (EU) member states to act to prevent Covid-19 outbreaks in the autumn and winter, preparing vaccination plans to include adapted and booster vaccines and considering reintroducing restrictions.
“Today, the Commission is proposing concrete measures to prevent an outbreak of Covid-19 cases in the coming autumn and winter season. The Commission urges Member States to put in place the necessary strategies and structures, including for COVID-19 vaccination and surveillance, to respond to future outbreaks in a rapid and sustained manner.
Stressing that “the main objective of the actions proposed by the Commission is to increase the use of vaccines, including adapted and new vaccines and to ensure that all citizens are well protected”, Brussels calls on countries to “develop national vaccination strategies”. and ensure sufficient logistical capabilities “to administer vaccines as soon as new and adapted vaccines are delivered.”
For the community executive, it is necessary that the national authorities improve adherence to the primary vaccination schedule and the first booster dose among those eligible, give priority to the administration of additional booster doses for specific population groups, such as people over 60 years old or seriously ill, combine the anti-covid-19 vaccination with the flu vaccination and even make a “clear communication to the public about the benefits of vaccination”.
In addition to vaccination, the European Commission calls for “surveillance of respiratory viruses such as the flu” and highlights that restrictive measures such as the use of masks or limiting the size of concentrations “remain a crucial part of the toolbox of the States members” to limit the spread.
“It is important that all Member States are prepared to reintroduce public health measures based on clear thresholds”, and “any measures implemented in schools must be adapted to the educational context and age group and kept to a minimum level to avoid any interruption of Education. ”, says Brussels.
In the case of the free movement of people and goods, the institution advances that, with regard to travel from third countries, “it will shortly propose a review of the Council’s recommendation to take into account the change in the epidemiological situation, the increase in vaccination worldwide and the evolution of entry requirements in the Member States”.
In addition, Brussels calls for “strong health systems and capacities in all member states”.
Quoted in the note, the European Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, points out that “the pandemic is still very present”, warning that it will be a “new time of challenges”.
“We must act now, together, in a coordinated and sustained manner to help prevent another outbreak of serious cases of covid-19”, concludes the European head of protection.
The position comes a day after the European Medicines Agency recommended the authorization of two adapted vaccines to reinforce protection against Covid-19, specifically against the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
The Comarty (Pfizer/BioNTech) and Spikevax (Moderna) vaccines, in their updated version and adapted to protect against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, are recommended for booster vaccination of people aged 12 years and over in the EU.
Covid-19 is a respiratory disease that became a pandemic on March 11, 2020, after SARS-CoV-2, a virus detected at the end of 2019 in China, spread rapidly throughout the world.
Source: Observadora
