As the virulent Delta variant wreaks havoc globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday that another 2.36 lakh people could die from Covid in Europe by December 1. This is seen as an expression of WHO concern over rising infections and stagnating vaccine rate in the continent.
“Last week, there was an 11 per cent increase in the number of deaths in the region — one reliable projection is expecting 236,000 deaths in Europe by December 1,” WHO Europe director Hans Kluge said on Monday, blaming the more infectious Delta variant, the easing of restrictions and summer travel. He also attributed the slump in vaccination to “a lack of access to vaccines in some countries and a lack of vaccine acceptance in others”.
Only 6 per cent of people in lower and lower-middle-income countries in Europe are fully vaccinated, and some countries have only managed to vaccinate one in 10 health workers.
Europe has registered around 1.3 million Covid deaths to date.
Countries across the region have seen infection rates tick up as the highly-transmissible Delta variant takes hold, particularly among the unvaccinated. The WHO says the region has recorded more than 65 million confirmed cases and 1.3 million deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Covid infections across Europe declined in April but started to creep up again at the end of June.
Poorer nations, especially in the Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia, have been hardest hit, and deaths are mounting as well.
Of the WHO Europe’s 53 member States, 33 have registered an incidence rate greater than 10 per cent in the past two weeks, Kluge said. Most are in poorer countries.
High transmission rates across the continent were “deeply worrying, particularly in the light of low vaccination uptake in priority populations in a number of countries.”
Kluge said the Delta variant was partly to blame, along with an “exaggerated easing” of restrictions and measures and a surge in summer travel.
While around half of people in the WHO’s Europe region are fully vaccinated, uptake in the region has slowed. “In the past six weeks, it has fallen by 14 per cent, influenced by a lack of access to vaccines in some countries and a lack of vaccine acceptance in others.”
Only six percent of people in lower and lower-middle-income countries in Europe are fully vaccinated, and some countries have only managed to vaccinate one in 10 health professionals.
“The stagnation in vaccine uptake in our region is of serious concern,” Kluge said, urging countries to “increase production, share doses, and improve access”.
Kluge stressed that since public health and social measures were being relaxed in many places, “the public’s vaccination acceptance is crucial”.
“Vaccine skepticism and science denial is holding us back from stabilizing this crisis. It serves no purpose, and is good for no one.”
The warning comes as the WHO and UNICEF urged European countries earlier Monday to make teachers a priority group for vaccinations so schools can stay open throughout the pandemic.
As schools reopen after the summer holidays, the agencies said it was “vital that classroom-based learning continue uninterrupted”, despite the spread of the Delta variant.
“This is of paramount importance for children’s education, mental health and social skills, for schools to help equip our children to be happy and productive members of society,” Kluge said.
The agencies urged countries to vaccinate children over the age of 12 who have underlying medical conditions that put them at greater risk of severe Covid-19.
