The European Fee proposed measures to stop a surge of COVID-19 instances within the upcoming autumn and winter season, calling for member states to enact a coordinated strategy.
The measures, proposed in Fee’s communication on Friday (2 September), embody growing the uptake of vaccines, together with the brand new and tailored variations.
“We should be able to face one other difficult season,” mentioned Well being Commissioner Stella Kyriakides in a press launch, urging the bloc to “act now, collectively, in a coordinated and sustained method.”
European Method of Life Vice-President Margaritis Schinas added that actions taken now will affect the way forward for the pandemic. “Taking motion now will restrict the strain on healthcare methods, disruptions of the economies and challenges for the society,” he mentioned.
The Fee referred to as on the EU27 to enhance the vaccine uptake of the first vaccination course and first booster dose amongst eligible people, with Kyriakides calling the closing of vaccination gaps “a matter of high precedence”.
Moreover, nations had been urged to prioritise the administration of a further booster dose for particular inhabitants teams, notably folks aged 60 years and over and different eligible people of any age prone to extreme illness.
The Fee advisable mixed COVID-19 and influenza vaccination campaigns, alongside usually up to date and clear communications methods based mostly on epidemiological developments, behavioural insights, and public notion.
Assembly the chilly season with tailored vaccines
The Fee’s refreshed calls observe the European Medicines Company’s (EMA) approval of recent BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, tailored to the Omicron variant, Thursday (1 September).
“It’s essential that each one member states have strong vaccination methods in place to arrange for the autumn and winter, together with for the roll-out of the newly authorised tailored booster vaccines,” Kyriakides mentioned.
The Fee is asking EU members to develop nationwide vaccination methods clarifying which vaccines, together with the brand new and tailored vaccines, ought to be administered to which inhabitants teams, additionally considering the potential for the emergence of recent variants.
The Fee’s communication emphasises the centrality of adequate logistical to permit the brand new vaccines to be administered as quickly as they’re delivered.
Actions past vaccination
In acknowledgement of widespread “pandemic fatigue,” the Fee underscored the significance of a various strategy, via surveillance and non-pharmaceutical interventions, comparable to face masks or limiting the scale of gatherings.
“It’s […] important that resilient surveillance methods are set as much as monitor the event of the virus, that methods for the reintroduction of efficient public well being measures are in place if wanted and that the capability of well being care methods is strengthened,” Kyriakides mentioned.
To forestall any training disruption, any measures applied in faculties ought to be tailored to the academic setting and the age group and stored at a minimal, the Fee mentioned.
Guaranteeing free motion throughout the EU “stays essential” each for folks and items, the Fee harassed.
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
