When countries are not islands…
Prominent researchers and experts throughout Europe including CSH scientists call “for a strong, coordinated European response and clearly defined goals for the medium and long term” to combat the COVID-19 pandemic more successfully.
In their piece, published as Correspondence in The Lancet, COVID-19 experts make clear that a third wave cannot be avoided without strategic moves that are planned on an European level.
“With open borders across Europe, a single country alone cannot keep the number of COVID-19 cases low,” the authors write. “Joint action and common goals among countries are therefore essential.”
One of the three authors from Austria is CSH’s Peter Klimek.
“When infection rates are high, we lose for instance the tool of testing, tracing and isolating, or the ability to control the spread by means of regional measures,” says Peter, who has been part of a consortium advising the Austrian Ministry of Health since March and is a leading expert in epidemiological modelling. “In this case, hard lockdowns remain the only viable option to bring the case numbers down.”
But aren’t there vaccines?
Of course, vaccines…
“We cannot wait until vaccination will save us,” Peter says. “Vaccines will eventually bring the pandemic to an end. But this won’t be before next fall or winter. We urgently need a strategy for the next couple of months to avoid further lockdowns with their tremendous impact on society and the economy.”
Peter is not the only author with Hub affiliation. CSH Associate Faculty member Eva Schernhammer and Matjaž Perc, a member of our External Faculty, co-authored too.
The other experts are Viola Priesemann, Melanie M Brinkmann, Sandra Ciesek, Sarah Cuschieri, Thomas Czypionka, Giulia Giordano, Deepti Gurdasani, Claudia Hanson, Niel Hens, Emil Iftekhar, Michelle Kelly-Irving, Mirjam Kretzschmar, Andreas Peichl, Francesco Sannino, Alexander Schmidt, Anthony Staines, and Ewa Szczurek.
Statement about the Initiative [in German]
… by the Austrian authors of the initiative, Peter Klimek, Eva Schernhammer and Thomas Czypionka:
Find further information
This consortium of international scientists, economists, doctors and senior academics set up a webpage to underline the importance of the call.
- the whole text of the call
- translations in various languages, including German, Italian, French, Dutch or Swedish
- the impressive list of signatories—truly a Who is Who of European COVID experts
Viola Priesemann, Melanie M Brinkmann, Sandra Ciesek, Sarah Cuschieri, Thomas Czypionka, Giulia Giordano, Deepti Gurdasani, Claudia Hanson, Niel Hens, Emil Iftekhar, Michelle Kelly-Irving, Peter Klimek, Mirjam Kretzschmar, Andreas Peichl, Matjaž Perc, Francesco Sannino, Eva Schernhammer, Alexander Schmidt, Anthony Staines, Ewa Szczurek: “Calling for pan-European commitment for rapid
and sustained reduction in SARS-CoV-2 infections,” The Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736