An increase in Covid-19 transmission rates across Europe over the last two weeks, combined with low levels of vaccination in some countries, is "deeply worrying", the World Health Organization has said.
The WHO said it feared another 236,000 Covid-19 deaths in Europe by 1 December. "Last week, there was an 11% increase in the number of deaths in the region - one reliable projection is expecting 236,000 deaths in Europe, by December 1," WHO Europe director Hans Kluge told reporters, adding that "the stagnation in vaccine uptake in our region is of serious concern." He also said that a third-dose booster shot of the Covid-19 vaccination is a way to keep the most vulnerable safe and "not a luxury".