Up to 80 percent of Europeans have already contracted the coronavirus, according to the latest estimates from the European Commission. According to the EU health authority, the reported cases so far affect 30 percent of the European population. If you add the unreported infections, it should be up to 350 million people.
As the number of infections and deaths related to Covid-19 has recently decreased, the EU is now moving away from mass testing and reporting cases, said EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides. However, a recurrence of cases is to be expected as another mutation of the virus is likely.
The Commission therefore called on the countries of the international community to prepare themselves in order to be able to switch back to emergency mode. Accordingly, the vaccination campaigns should be intensified again.
In a document outlining the strategy for the period after the emergency phase of the pandemic, Brussels warns to push ahead with vaccinating the unvaccinated, especially children, before the start of the new school year. According to the document, the vaccination rate for children between the ages of five and nine in Europe is less than 15 percent. In the case of young people between the ages of 15 and 17, on the other hand, it is over 70 percent.
In addition, the European Union wants to support the development of new drugs against Covid-19, especially antivirals that are easier to store and administer. Those are already approved Corona-Pills from Pfizer and Merck & Co. So far, however, they have been slow to gain acceptance due to high prices and complicated national prescription procedures.
