Europe rethinks booster shots after record COVID-19 cases

Coronavirus infections broke records in parts of Europe on Wednesday, with the continent once again the epicenter of a pandemic that has prompted new curbs on movement and made health experts think again about booster vaccination shots.

Slovakia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Hungary all reported new highs in daily infections as winter grips Europe and people gather indoors in the run-up to Christmas, providing a perfect breeding ground for COVID-19.

The disease has swept the world in the two years since it was first identified in central China, infecting more than 258 million people and killing 5.4 million.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the EU public health agency, recommended vaccine boosters for all adults, with priority for those over 40, in a major shift from its previous guidance that suggested the extra doses should be considered for older frail people and those with weakened immune systems.

“Available evidence emerging from Israel and the UK shows a significant increase in protection against infection and severe disease following a booster dose in all age groups in the short term,” the ECDC said in a report published on Wednesday.

Many EU countries have already begun giving booster doses to their populations but are using different criteria to make priorities and different intervals between the first shots and boosters.

ECDC head Andrea Ammon said boosters would increase protection against infection caused by waning immunity and “could potentially reduce the transmission in the population and prevent additional hospitalisations and deaths.”

She advised countries with low levels of vaccination to speed up their rollouts and warned of high risks of a further spike in deaths and hospitalisations in Europe in December and January if the recommended measures are not introduced.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, acknowledging that Europe was again at the epicenter of the pandemic, warned against a “false sense of security” over the protection offered by vaccines.

“No country is out of the woods,” he told reporters.

Sweden will begin gradually rolling out boosters to all adults, government and health officials said.