Covid-19 vaccines in use in Europe appear to protect against all new variants but progress in the region remains “fragile” and international travel should be avoided to prevent pockets of transmission quickly spreading into “dangerous resurgences”, the World Health Organisation has said. However, he added incidence rates remained stubbornly high in eight countries. Mr Kluge said the B.1.617 variant first identified in India had been identified in at least 26 of the region’s 53 countries, with most cases linked to international travel but onwards transmission also now occurring. VaccinesMr Kluge said vaccines are effective against the new strain, with all variants that have so far emerged responding to “available, approved vaccines”. But since only 23 per cent of people in Europe have received a vaccine dose and only 11 per cent have had both, governments and citizens must continue to exercise caution.

Source: The Irish Times May 20, 2021 13:08 UTC