"The epidemiological situation" relating to Covid-19 "is
constantly improving in Europe,
and overall the data show a significant drop in the number of new infections, hospitalizations and deaths. According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control ( ECDC), have reached the lowest level observed in the EU in the last 12 months".
This was stated by the head of the vaccination strategy of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Marco Cavaleri, in the monthly briefing with the press.
"
Vaccination campaigns
" against Covid-19 "could take place mainly once a year and at the beginning of winter," Cavaleri added in the briefing.
"We are discussing the criteria and process for an update of the anti-Covid vaccines with international partners," he said.
Covid "still represents a significant burden on health systems. The low uptake of booster doses" of anti-Covid vaccines "among vulnerable groups is a source of concern for public safety", said the head of EMA's vaccination strategy ,
encouraging "the elderly, pregnant people and immunocompromised patients who have not been revaccinated against Covid with a vaccine adapted to do so".
According to Cavaleri, "the XBB1.5 subvariant" of Covid, the so-called
Kraken
, "is currently spreading very rapidly, it is now at low levels in the EU but
will become dominant
in the coming weeks. It is therefore important not to let our guard down while the virus continues to evolve".
