A new COVID-19 wave appears to be brewing in Europe as cooler weather arrives

A new COVID-19 wave appears to be brewing in Europe as cooler weather arrives, with public health experts warning that vaccine fatigue and confusion over types of available vaccines will likely limit booster uptake.

The bulk of infections are still being dominated by the Omicron subvariants BA.4/5 that predominated this summer, but newer Omicron subvariants are gaining ground. Scientists are monitoring hundreds of novel Omicron strains, according to World Health Organization (WHO) authorities this week.

Despite a sharp decline in testing, WHO figures released late on Wednesday indicated that cases in the European Union (EU) hit 1.5 million last week, up 8% from the week before. The number of cases continues to decrease globally.

Hospitalization rates have increased recently in many of the 27-nation bloc’s members’ nations as well as in Britain.

According to data published by independent scientific foundation Gimbe, COVID-19 hospital admissions with symptoms increased by around 32% in Italy in the week ending October 4 and intensive care admissions increased by almost 21%.

Hospitalizations for COVID in Britain increased by 45% in the same week compared to the previous week.

Since September, Omicron-adapted vaccinations have been made accessible in Europe alongside first-generation vaccines that target the BA.1 and BA.4/5 subvariants, respectively. Only the BA.1-tailored injections have been approved for use in Britain.