L’World Health Organization indicated that compulsory vaccination of the population should be considered an option of “absolute last resort” on Tuesday, December 7th. As Europe grapples with a fifth wave of the pandemic, the WHO has called for better protection for children.
In the Old Continent, where the WHO has said it fears an additional 500,000 deaths by the spring, more than 120,000 people have died from Covid-19 since this warning issued last month.
With the approach of the end of the year holidays, synonymous with family reunions and many trips, the toll is currently evolving to a “high plateau” of more than 4,000 deaths per day, according to the organization. Amid concern over the Omicron variant, cases are currently increasing in Europe in all age categories, “with the highest rates currently observed among 5-14 year olds”, sometimes two to three times higher than in the rest of the population, stressed WHO Europe.
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Barrier gestures are to be maintained
To avoid further class closures and the return of distance education, she advised to strengthen testing and the use of masks in schools and to consider vaccination at the national level of school children, approved by several agencies. drug in the world. On Monday, a study by the World Bank and several international institutions warned of the even heavier-than-expected impact of the pandemic on the education and future of children around the world.
According to her, the generation of young people currently in school is at risk of losing nearly $ 17 trillion in income in their lifetime due to school closures linked to the pandemic.
Prepare for the “victory” against Omicron
Despite the strong resumption of the epidemic in Europe, compulsory vaccination, decided or envisaged by certain countries, must remain a recourse of “absolute last resort”, affirmed the WHO on Tuesday. It must be decided “only when all possible options for increasing the vaccination rate have been exhausted”, in particular because of the possible perverse effects on “the confidence of the general public”.
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“What is acceptable in one society is not effective or acceptable in another,” said the WHO. Without providing new scientific assessments, the organization once again expressed concern about the new Omicron variant, but called not to wait until it is dominant to act. “The Omicron is in sight and on the rise and we are right to be concerned and cautious. But the problem now is Delta, and how we succeed against Delta today will be a win against Omicron tomorrow, ”before the cases escalate massively.
Soon majority?
Norway, which is due to announce new measures against the resumption of the epidemic on Tuesday evening, said it expected the new variant, first detected in southern Africa, to become the majority in the Nordic country “by January at the latest. “. According to the latest score from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 212 cases had been confirmed with certainty in the 27 EU countries as of midday on Monday.
The European Union health agency responsible for epidemics expects the Omicron variant to become the majority in Europe in the “very next few months”. Several countries have been added to the list of affected nations in recent days, with the first cases reported in Argentina or the Fiji Islands. The specter of travel restrictions is also back. The American authorities asked their nationals on Monday to avoid traveling to a dozen countries, including France and Portugal, yet among the best vaccinated in Europe.
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