The COVID Transition Initiative (CTI), created and funded by Novavax and made up of experts, calls on national governments and European Union authorities to take all necessary measures to support a optimal vaccination coverage, ultimately aiming to achieve a target of 75% acceptance among risk groups, as set for influenza vaccination.

They therefore call on national bodies to issue clear recommendations or guidelines for COVID-19 vaccination as early as possible before the start of campaigns. “Regular COVID-19 vaccination campaigns should be driven by tailored strategies targeting the most vulnerable groups,” they said. risk groups“including the elderly, residents of nursing homes, people with comorbidities or immunosuppressed people, caregivers, healthcare personnel and pregnant women,” they demanded.

They also call on regulators to work collaboratively with vaccine suppliers to ensure the Availability of all products vaccination programmes in time for the start of campaigns from September.

For the initiative, having multiple COVID-19 vaccine technologies available across Europe is essential” to enable innovation and avoid over-reliance on a single COVID-19 vaccine product, which can ensure that individuals and healthcare professionals have vaccine options that best suit their needs and preferences.

Following the recommendations of the European Medicines Agency to update vaccines to the JN.1 family strain, it is essential to timely review of JN.1 vaccine candidate applications to enable all available vaccine technologies to be approved and accessible by September, in time for the Covid-19 seasonal campaign.

COVID-19 cases on the rise in Europe

In recent weeks, there has been a notable increase in cases COVID-19 in Europe and the UK. According to the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC), the average positivity of SARS-CoV-2 tests in EU primary care sentinel systems has increased to 11 percent.

The combined positivity of the tests reached 29%, driven mainly by three countries who reported a sample positivity rate of more than 20%.

These data reveal that there was a current wave of COVID that is being detected at a regional level with an increase in the number of cases as well as hospital admissions. For example, between July 4 and 10 in Italythere was a 42% increase in new positive cases, according to the Italian Ministry of Health.

In Francethe public health agency recorded an increase in all epidemic monitoring indicators in June. The indicators remained stable in July, but with a slight increase in hospitalizations.