Faced with the swift spread of the Omicron variant in Europe – and as over 130 cases have been reported in France – the head of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in a video this Wednesday December 15, 2021, called for “strong action” to stop this new variant, as “vaccination alone” will not be enough.
“In the current situation, vaccination alone will not allow us to prevent the impact of the omicron variant, because there will be no time to address the vaccination gaps that still exist”, Andrea Ammon claimed. Therefore, the EU health agency has raised the risk assessment for omicron to "very high”, for public health.
Moreover, the agency called for “a rapid reintroduction and strengthening of non-pharmaceutical interventions”, namely the different restrictions already recommended and instated before: remote working, use of protective facemasks, airing rooms, isolating sick, using tests, as well as preventing gatherings for the Holidays, remain a priority.
"It is urgent that strong action is taken to reduce transmission and alleviate the heavy burden on health care systems and protect the most vulnerable in the coming months”, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control specifies. Similar recommendations have been already delivered earlier this week by the World Health Organization.
