London: The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has warned that a new wave of COVID-19 infections is expected in Europe within the next week. The EMA said that new variants of the coronavirus are developing more rapidly than vaccines. In a press conference, the European Union’s drug watchdog said the pandemic was still not over as new variants continued to emerge.
According to the news agency AFP, Dr. Marco Cavallari, Head of Health Threats and Vaccines Strategy, said last week that one of the new Omicron variants, called BQ.1 (BQ.1), was introduced at least in the European Union and the European Economic Area. Has been recognized in at least five countries. According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), BQ.1 and its sub-variant BQ.1.1 can cause a large wave of corona from mid-November to early December. Since the influenza virus and the Covid-19 virus will spread together this winter, European health officials have asked people in high-risk groups to get vaccinated against both.
However, the EMA said that existing vaccines are still in effect. This warning comes in the wake of increasing cases of Omicron’s variant BQ.1 and subvariant BQ.1.1 across Europe and the US. Whereas this week the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the BQ.1.1 subvariant is spreading in at least 29 countries. On the other hand, the US CDC said that BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are estimated to account for about 10 percent of the total corona infections last week. A virologist and vaccine research expert said that these variants (BQ.1 and BQ.1.1) could potentially cause a huge wave of corona in the US this winter. Because already their effect is visible in Europe and UK.
