The European Union has moved with the aim of preventing the health crisis that is being experienced in China as a result of the explosion of Covid-19 cases it can be replicated in its territory. the twenty seven they decided claim a test with negative result no more than 48 hours before flying to the Asian giant travelers and plans to introduce the recommendation to use a mask on flights with origin or destination China. It was further agreed analyze wastewater from aircraft and airportsas well as performing random diagnostic tests on travelers from China upon arrival in European countries.
Opinion on the effectiveness of these measures is questionable according to experts. The current situation in China responds to the abrupt end of its strict “Covid zero” policy, low vaccination coverageespecially with reinforcement and in older and/or vulnerable adults and the use of vaccines whose effectiveness in terms of protection is lower to those used in Europe, as in the case of serums developed with mRNA technology.
The omicron variant (B.1.1.529), its lineages and sub-lineages, especially those derived from BA.5, are the dominant ones in China and They were already present in Europe before the outbreak of the health crisis. The difference between the Asian giant and the old continent lies in the vaccination rates in European countriesas defended this week by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC, for its acronym in English).
Vaccination is essential, particularly in the case of the elderly and vulnerable groups
According to the latest data collected by the European organization, we see that 75.5% of the population of the countries of the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA) have already received at least one dose of the vaccine. 73% completed the vaccination schedule primary. However, by scrolling through the data relating to the administration of booster calls, the figures drop significantly: 54.6% received the first booster, the 12.7% the second reinforcement and only one percent of the population eligible for the third recall received it.
“Given the increased immunity of the EU/EEA population, as well as the earlier emergence and subsequent replacement of variants currently circulating in China with other EU/EEA sub-lines of Omicron, an increase in cases in the EU/EEA is not expected. China affects on the epidemiological situation in the EU/EEA”, the ECDC recently said.
Los data The most recent reports shared by the Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE) of the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, confirm a predominance of BA.5.2 and BF.7 lineages from Omicron. Together they account for 97.5% of samples sequenced in China. Two already known subtypes with previous circulation in other countries. They also reported that, to date, no new variants have been detected in the Asian country due to the massive circulation of the virus.
The vaccination it is essential, particularly for the elderly and vulnerable groups, but only one per cent of the population eligible for the third booster in the EU/EEA has received it. The differences between the different countries are significant with Greece yes France in the lead with 1.4 and 1.2%, respectively, of the citizens who received the third sting. The rest of the countries are below one percent with very poor data in nations like Romania, Hungary or Luxembourg in which just 0.1% was reached.
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