The director of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDE), Andrea Ammon, said yesterday that vaccination against COVID-19 could continue to be necessary for several “decades”.
“We must continue to monitor and adapt COVID vaccines to the risks that may emerge. The need to distribute these vaccines in a timely manner may be needed for decades to come, as the virus may enter an endemic phase,” the ECDC director said in a public session at a Council of European Health Ministers held in Brussels.
Ammon specified that “each country’s vaccination strategy could vary” depending on criteria such as “the epidemiological situation, the population at risk or the level of immunity”.
In this same vein, several experts have spoken about the possible future of the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the hypotheses about the future of the coronavirus health crisis suggests that, over time, this virus could become an endemic disease. This would imply that the virus will never completely disappear but that, unlike the current context, its impact will be much smaller. That is, fewer cases and more manageable. For example, with vaccination campaigns.
Regarding the current situation of infections in Europe, the expert informed the European ministers that in the EU there are “increases, moderate for the moment and from a low level, but we see that other respiratory diseases are on the rise”.
“The concern is that if three diseases come at the same time, there could be a lot of pressure on hospitals,” added Andrea Ammon, who added that there is currently a “variant soup” in the European Union, with many strains with no particular highlights to anyone.
Specialist Andrea Ammon then underlined “the importance of continuing to vaccinate”, as did his counterpart from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Emmer Cooke, and the health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides. “Vaccines continue to be our best tool (…). They are our insurance policy and we must not give up this insurance,” said the commissioner.
Spain keeps the mask on public transport
The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, supports maintaining the obligation to wear a mask on public transport, as well as on flights to or from Spain, a measure that countries such as Portugal or Italy withdrew in the summer, while the Germany has eliminated its mandatory use on aircraft and airports. “We have always taken decisions hand in hand with the experts and we will continue to do so, so we will wait for them to say otherwise,” the minister said yesterday in Brussels, where she met her counterparts from the European Union. Darias also recalled that, with the arrival of winter and the drop in temperatures, it is important to continue to take care of yourself, as it is a period of significant increase in respiratory viruses, flu or bronchiolitis.
increase in income
For their part, patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Galicia have increased in recent days and stand at 167, 159 in the ward and eight in intensive care, or 24 more than those quantified the previous day. Likewise, active cases reach 1,326. In addition, Sergas has reported a new death, so the victims in Galicia amount to 3,982 since the beginning of the pandemic.
