European Union Agency for Health and Medicine has issued a recommendation for residents 60 years or older to sign up for a second Covid-19 booster jab.
«With cases and hospitalisations rising again as we enter the summer period, I urge everybody to get vaccinated and boosted as quickly as possible,» said Stella Kyriakides, the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety.
The commissioner stressed at the presentation of a joint report from European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the European Medicines Agency there is no time to waste.
Since April the agency has recommended booster jabs for people older than 80 years.
ECDC director Andrea Ammon said Covid-19 infection and hospitalisation cases are up in multiple countries. This includes intensive care therapy. According to experts, this can be explained with the spread of Omicron sub-variant BA 5 in Europe.
«This signals the start of a new, widespread Covid-19 wave across the European Union. There are still too many individuals at risk of severe Covid-19 infection whom we need to protect as soon as possible,» Ammon said.
The agency also notes that currently there is no need for people younger than 60 years to sign up for a second booster shot if they are not at high risk of serious infection or people who work in healthcare sectors and nursing homes.
Data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicates that in most of Europe Covid-19 infection cases have been on a rapid rise since the end of May.
In the last three days 5 585 Covid-19 tests were performed in Latvia. 1 286 turned out positive, according to data from the State Disease Prevention and Control Centre.
Of the new confirmed infected, 514 people were either not vaccinated or had not yet completed their vaccination course. 772 of new confirmed Covid-19 patients were vaccinated.
The two-week Covid-19 cumulative index in Latvia has increased from 340.2 to 395.6 per 100 000 residents.
Reports of two deaths were received in the last three days. One person was from 60-69 years age group and the other was in the 70-79 years age group. Both were vaccinated for Covid-19.