BRUSSELS —
EU officials said Wednesday the 27-nation bloc needed to keep focused on
vaccination, testing and surveillance as it transitions out of the “acute” phase
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
اضافة اعلان
“We are entering a
new phase of the pandemic, as we move from emergency mode to a more sustainable
management of COVID-19. Yet, we must remain vigilant,” European Commission
president
Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
“We know the way
forward. We need to further step-up vaccination and boosting, and targeted
testing — and we need to continue to coordinate our responses closely in the
EU.”
Brussels said the
bloc’s nations should use current low levels of infections “to strengthen their
surveillance, healthcare systems, and overall pandemic preparedness” ahead of a
possible fresh wave in the autumn.
The recommendations called for stepping up booster
jabs and continuing to sequence sufficient samples to detect any new variants.
It said
surveillance no longer needed to focus on mass reporting of all
COVID cases
“but rather on obtaining reliable and representative estimates”.
“New variants are
not a question of if but rather a question of when. Improvisation and
fragmentation are not an option,” said Commission vice president Margaritis
Schinas.
“Vigilance and
preparedness remain as essential as ever and we must continue our work without
respite.”
Widespread
vaccinations across the bloc and the less deadly
Omicron variant have seen the
levels of people being hospitalized or dying from the virus drop dramatically.
That fall has seen
COVID-related restrictions eased or entirely dropped around the 27 nations.
The pandemic has
seen the EU ramp up its vaccine production capacity to 3–4 billion jabs a year.
As part of its push unveiled on Wednesday, the commission
said it wanted to help maintain the bloc’s role as a major vaccine powerhouse
over the longer term to help face future health crises.
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