The Covid-19 pandemic “is far from over” but “two years later we could enter a new phase with a plausible hope of stabilization, but it is too early to let our guard down”. Thus the director of WHO Europe, Hans Henri Kluge, in a note after yesterday, in an interview, he had considered “plausible” that with the Omicron variant Europe “is moving towards the end of the pandemic”.
Kluge adds: “I hope we can put an end to the emergency phase in 2022 and address other health threats that urgently require our attention. Arrears and waiting lists have increased – he says, referring precisely to welfare benefits for diseases other than Covid – essential health services have been disrupted and plans and preparations for climate-related health stresses and shocks have been suspended across the region. “
“This pandemic, like all others, will end, but it is too early to relax. It is almost a given that new variants will emerge and return, with the millions of infections occurring around the world that will occur in the coming weeks and with the decline of the immunity and winter seasonality. But with strong surveillance and monitoring of these new variants; a high prevalence of vaccination and third doses and fair and affordable access to antivirals; and again with targeted testing, the protection of high risk with high-quality face masks and physical distancing if and when a new variant appears, I believe a new wave may no longer require a return to total lockdowns for the entire pandemic-era population, or similar measures. “