The international organization urged relevant authorities to speed up the administration of the vaccines in the face of the increase in cases in Europe.

WHO showed its concern after 1.6 million new positive cases and about 24,000 deaths were reported in a week due to the disease and warned about the danger posed by increased mobility and gatherings during religious holidays.

There is also a greater risk due to the B.1.1.7 variant of the coronavirus, which was first detected in the United Kingdom and is now predominant in the region, according to the WHO statement. This strain, which requires additional actions to control it, is more transmissible and may increase the risk of hospitalization.

Henri P. Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, recalls that vaccines are the best way to overcome the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, as they not only work, but are also very effective in preventing infections.

‘However, the deployment of these vaccines is unacceptably slow,’ Kluge said.

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