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Europe is once again the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. The continent contributes the highest number of deaths in the world: one in two deaths is European. There are, however, large differences between countries, marked by vaccine coverage. Despite wide access to the drug, especially in the European Union, the campaign is stagnant.
The EU countries with the lowest percentage of population with the complete pattern are currently also the countries with the highest number of deaths in relation to the size of their population. Bulgaria, with only 24.5% of its population protected against the coronavirus, it has counted 327 deaths per million inhabitants in the last 14 days;
and Romania, a 37.2% coverage, has added 269 deaths per million inhabitants in the same period, according to incidence data from the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) up to November 16 and data from vaccination project ‘Our World in Data’, University of Oxford.
Latvia, the third with the highest mortality at present (267 deaths per million inhabitants), has a coverage of 60.9% of its population. However, that percentage has been achieved thanks to a recent boost. Until recently, therefore, there was a larger population group without immunization. By mid-September, vaccination had reached only 40% in Latvia, while Spain, for example, was already close to 80%. A similar situation, although to a lesser extent, occurs in neighboring Lithuania.
Countries with a high percentage of vaccination, on the contrary, are reaping fewer deaths, even though their incidence is currently higher than in other countries with lower coverage. This is the case, for example, in Netherlands, Belgium O Ireland. With more than 70% of its population on the full schedule, the cumulative incidence is around a thousand cases per 100,000 inhabitants, but mortality, at least for the moment, remains considerably lower than other countries with better incidence but worse vaccination coverage . It should be remembered that vaccines against Covid-19 do not protect against contagion, but rather reduce the risk of serious and fatal disease.
On Austria, center of controversy over the imposition of a new confinement and the decision to impose the mandatory vaccine as of February, vaccination is experiencing a recent boost, with an increase in the number of people with at least one dose after months with the campaign stagnant. The complete pattern, however, does not yet reach 65% of the population. With the incidence soaring above 1,500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days, the third highest in the EU, the impact on mortality is already beginning to be felt with 35 deaths per million inhabitants.
On GermanyWith the incidence soaring and alarmed by the pressure on hospitals, mortality is also beginning to rebound, reaching levels not seen since May of this year. Vaccine coverage covers 67.3% of the population, slightly above the EU average (66.6%). Germany has already announced the imposition of restrictions on the unvaccinated.
The countries with the highest coverage against Covid-19, Portugal, Malta and Spain, above 80% of the population with the complete pattern, are also among the countries with the lowest incidence of infections and mortality in the EU.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism