Preliminary public health considerations for COVID-19 vaccination strategies in the second half of 2022, ECDC

Key messages:In the current post-acute phase of the pandemic, the introduction and emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants with increased transmissibility and/or immune escape capacity, together with waning protection against infection and severe disease from natural or vaccine-induced immunity, can result in new waves of virus transmission and surges of COVID-19 cases with a subsequent rise in hospitalisations, ICU admissions and deaths. As of 10 July 2022, the overall notification rates of COVID-19 cases in the EU/EEA remain high and have been increasing for the past five weeks. Case rates among people aged 65 years and over increased in 23 of the 27 reporting countries. These increases are still relatively recent, and they signal the start of a widespread wave driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 variants of concern. The increasing transmission among older age groups is starting to translate into severe disease, and, as of 10 July 2022, 12 countries reported an increasing trend in either hospital or ICU admissions/occupancy compared with the previous week. At the same time, even though the EU/EEA death rate has remained stable for the last five weeks, the forecast for the period up to 31 July indicates that both case notification rates and death rates will increase. As of 10 July 2022, the cumulative uptake of the primary COVID-19 vaccination course in the total population in the EU/EEA reached 72.8%, and 52.9% for the first booster dose. Among ...
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news