Europe rethinks booster shot policy as COVID-19 cases hit records
BRUSSELS: Coronavirus infections broke records on Wednesday
(Nov 24) in parts of Europe, once again the epicentre of a pandemic which has
prompted new curbs on movement and made health experts think again about
booster vaccination shots.
Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary all reported new
highs in daily infections as winter grips the continent and people gather
indoors in the run-up to Christmas, providing a perfect breeding ground for
COVID-19.
The disease has swept the world in the two years since it
was first identified in central China, infecting more than 258 million people
and killing 5.4 million.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
(ECDC), the EU public health agency, recommended vaccine boosters for all
adults, with priority for those over 40, in a major shift of policy.
"Available evidence emerging from Israel and the UK
shows a significant increase in protection against infection and severe disease
following a booster dose in all age groups in the short term," the ECDC
said in a report published on Wednesday.
Many EU countries have already begun giving booster doses to
their populations but are using different criteria to make priorities and
different intervals between the first shots and boosters.
ECDC head Andrea Ammon said boosters would increase
protection against infection caused by waning immunity and "could
potentially reduce the transmission in the population and prevent additional
hospitalisations and deaths".
She advised countries with low levels of vaccination to
speed up their rollouts and warned of high risks of a further spike in deaths
and hospitalisations in Europe in December and January if the recommended
measures are not introduced.
Sweden will begin gradually rolling out boosters to all
adults, government and health officials said. Booster shots of mRNA vaccine
have been offered to people aged 65 or above, with an eye to eventually
extending the shots to other groups.
"We are faced with an uncertain winter," Health
Minister Lena Hallengren told a news conference. "You can contribute by
staying home if you're sick or by getting vaccinated if you haven't already,
and taking your booster when you're offered it."
Unlike many of its neighbours, Sweden has not been hit by a
new wave of infections, and hospitalisations remain relatively low, but there
have been scattered signs the pandemic is picking up pace.
Slovakia reported its highest daily rise in cases on
Wednesday, just ahead of a government meeting likely to agree a short-term
lockdown to quell the world's fastest surge in infections.
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