policy
A scientist’s opinion: Interview with Dr Sylvie Briand on Omicron
Interview with Dr Sylvie Briand, Director of the Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention department at the World Health Organization (WHO). The rise of new variants, such as Omicron, appears linked to immune-deficient carriers. What is the relationship between the occurrence of these events and vaccination rates? Sylvie Briand: Surely, unvaccinated, immune-deficient people who become ...
Omicron, another chapter in the Covid-19 pandemic
Before the winter holidays, a new, more transmissible variant was discovered. By now, Omicron is responsible for most new infections in Europe. What do we know so far? And what are the future possible scenarios?
A scientist’s opinion: Interview with Dr Ole Heuer on Omicron
Interview with Dr Ole Heuer, Public Health Emergency Manager for the Covid-19 pandemic at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). What do we know about the severity of the symptoms associated with the Omicron variant? Ole Heuer: By 21 January 2022, there were more than 150000 reported Omicron infections in the European ...
Covid-19: Keeping a close eye on the models
As many European countries start to relax Covid-19 restrictions and reopen to foreign visitors whilst still rolling out vaccination programmes, it is more important than ever to stay one step ahead of the virus by accurately monitoring cases and predicting outbreaks.
The EU Digital COVID Certificate – towards a European Health Union?
The EU Digital COVID Certificate will facilitate safe free movement of citizens in the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will become available in all EU Member States as of 1 July. The massive economic, social and human impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has raised fundamental questions about healthcare rights and standards in the European ...
A scientist’s opinion: Interview with Ira Haavisto about the EU Project HERoS
Interview with Ira Haavisto, Senior Research Manager at the Nordic Healthcare Group Finland, responsible for the public healthcare system analysis work package of the EU-funded Health Emergency Response in Interconnected Systems project. Why was intensive care unit occupancy an interesting research topic for the Health Emergency Response in Interconnected Systems project (HERoS)? Ira Haavisto: We ...
A scientist’s opinion: Interview with Gyöngyi Kovacs about the EU Project HERoS
Interview with Gyöngyi Kovacs, Erkko Professor in Humanitarian Logistics at the Hanken School of Economics (Finland) and coordinator of the EU-funded Health Emergency Response in Interconnected Systems project. What inspired the Health Emergency Response in Interconnected Systems (HERoS) project? Gyöngyi Kovacs: HERoS kicked off around April 2020, just a few weeks after the first wave ...
HERoS: How can we improve our response to health emergencies?
A European research consortium (HERoS) was set up to learn from the present COVID-19 pandemic and to provide decision-makers with the necessary information and tools to more efficiently and effectively respond to future disease outbreaks. Some outcomes of this collaboration include a tool to optimise cross-border intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy in hospitals and a fact-checking observatory to combat misinformation.
