Progress towards the coronavirus pandemic stays “fragile” and international travel should be avoided, the World Health Organization’s Europe director warned on Thursday, but stressed that authorised vaccines do work against variants of concern.
“Right now, in the face of a continued threat and new uncertainty, we need to continue to exercise caution, and rethink or avoid international travel,” Hans Kluge mentioned, including that “pockets of accelerating transmission” on the continent could quickly spread.
The so-called Indian variant, which may be more transmissible, has now been identified in at least 26 of the 53 countries in the WHO Europe region, Kluge said during his weekly press conference.
But he said that authorised vaccines are effective against the new strain.
“All Covid-19 virus variants that have emerged so far do respond to the available, approved vaccines,” Kluge mentioned, including that each one Covid-19 variants might be managed with the identical public well being and social measures used till now.
So far solely 23 p.c of individuals within the area have acquired a vaccine dose, with simply 11 p.c having had each doses, Kluge mentioned, as he warned residents to proceed to train warning.
“Vaccines could also be a lightweight on the finish of the tunnel, however we can’t be blinded by that gentle,” he mentioned.
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