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Almost 80 pct of EU population went through COVID: EU official

Stella Kyriakides, the EU Health Commissioner, has released a report compiled by the European Commission on i.a. the number of COVID infections since the pandemic started, including estimates regarding unreported cases.

Between 60 and 77 per cent of the EU population is estimated to have been infected with COVID-19, according to Stella Kyriakides, EU Health Commissioner. 30 per cent of the EU population was infected with the coronavirus according to official reports, but the 77 per cent figure (350 million people) includes the estimate of unreported cases.

As the community prepares to enter the post-emergency phase of the pandemic, the measures to combat the virus are shifting away from mass testing and reporting of cases, no longer considered necessary. But the Health Commissioner also said that to ensure the EU does not find itself in a predicament similar to the initial waves of the COVID pandemic, member states should introduce “integrated surveillance systems all year round, looking at all respiratory illnesses, and not only COVID-19.”

One of the next steps that needs to be taken according to Ms Kyriakides should be to immunise those yet unvaccinated, e.g. children. Only 15 per cent of children aged between 5 and 9, the youngest age group for which COVID-19 vaccines have been authorised in Europe, have been vaccinated. By comparison, 70 per cent of teens aged 15 to 17 are vaccinated. The report released by the European Commission urges the vaccination of children prior to the beginning of the new school year in autumn.

The immunisation effort is also to be ramped up among adults. “Boosters are currently plateauing at about 64 per cent of the adult population. And we still have 90 million European citizens who are unvaccinated,” said Commissioner Kyriakides.

The Commission also stressed that at any moment the EU member states should be able to shift back into emergency mode in case of a new surge in COVID-19 infections, which is considered a possibility on account of the virus’ tendency to mutate into new variants.

It is also important to continue developing new drugs, especially antivirals, which would be easier to store and administer. The Commission announced it will back the development of such medication. Pfizer and Merck & Co have so far developed 43 antiviral pills against COVID, but the high prices and complicated national procedures to prescribe them have resulted in a limited uptake, especially since the pandemic has stagnated. Another measure to be taken by the Commission is to support the development of the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines, which will offer more comprehensive, stronger, and longer-lasting protection against infection or transmission.

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