A look into the future of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe: an expert consultation
Iftekhar, Emil Nafis; Priesemann, Viola; Balling, Rudi; Bauer, Simon; Beutels, Philippe; Calero Valdez, André; Cuschieri, Sarah; Czypionka, Thomas; Dumpis, Uga; Glaab, Enrico; Grill, Eva; Hanson, Claudia; Hotulainen, Pirta; Klimek, Peter; Kretzschmar, Mirjam; Krüger, Tyll; Krutzinna, Jenny; Low, Nicola; Machado, Helena; Martins, Carlos; McKee, Martin; Mohr, Sebastian Bernd; Nassehi, Armin; Perc, Matjaž; Petelos, Elena; Pickersgill, Martyn; Prainsack, Barbara; Rocklöv, Joacim; Schernhammer, Eva; Staines, Anthony; Szczurek, Ewa; Tsiodras, Sotirios; Van Gucht, Steven; Willeit, Peter
(2021) The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, volume 8, pp. 1 - 14
(Article)
Abstract
How will the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic develop in the coming months and years? Based on an expert survey, we examine key aspects that are likely to influence the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. The challenges and developments will strongly depend on the progress of national and global vaccination programs,
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the emergence and spread of variants of concern (VOCs), and public responses to non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). In the short term, many people remain unvaccinated, VOCs continue to emerge and spread, and mobility and population mixing are expected to increase. Therefore, lifting restrictions too much and too early risk another damaging wave. This challenge remains despite the reduced opportunities for transmission given vaccination progress and reduced indoor mixing in summer 2021. In autumn 2021, increased indoor activity might accelerate the spread again, whilst a necessary reintroduction of NPIs might be too slow. The incidence may strongly rise again, possibly filling intensive care units, if vaccination levels are not high enough. A moderate, adaptive level of NPIs will thus remain necessary. These epidemiological aspects combined with economic, social, and health-related consequences provide a more holistic perspective on the future of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Keywords: COVID-19, Delphi study, Europe, expert survey, group forecast, non-pharmaceutical interventions, policy advice, SARS-CoV-2, variants of concern, Health Policy, Oncology, Internal Medicine, Review, Journal Article
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
Note: Funding Information: ENI, VP, SB, and SBM were supported by the Max Planck Society. VP received honoraria for lectures and presentations on COVID-19 mitigation strategies. PB was supported by the Epipose project from the European Union's SC1-PHE-CORONAVIRUS-2020 programme (grant agreement number 101003688), and consulting fees were paid to his institution by Pfizer and Pfizer Belgium. ACV was supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. TC was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme project PERISCOPE (grant agreement number 101016233). EGl was supported by the Luxembourg National Research Fund. EGr received fees from the German Board of Pharmacists for educational events on COVID-19 and is the president of the German Society for Epidemiology. MK was supported by ZonMw grants number 10430022010001 and number 91216062, and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme project CORESMA (grant agreement number 101003480). NL was supported by European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme project EpiPose (grant agreement number 101003688), and the Swiss National Science Foundation (project number 176233). MM is a member of UK Independent SAGE. SBM was supported by egePan 01KX7021. MPi was supported by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) [ES/S013873/1; ES/T014164/1], the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) [MR/S035818/1], FWO, and Wellcome Trust [209519/Z/17/Z; 106612/Z/14/Z]. BP is a member of the Austrian National Bioethics Commission, and the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies, advising the Austrian Government and the EU Commission respectively. Other research projects in the lab of ESz are partly funded by Merck Healthcare KGaA. All other authors have no competing interests to declare. Funding Information: ENI, VP, SB, SBM were supported by the Max Planck Society. RB was supported by the University of Luxembourg. PB has received funding from the Epipose project of the European Union's SC1- PHE-CORONAVIRUS-2020 programme , project number 101003688. ACV has received funding from the Digital Society research program funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia . SC was supported by the University of Malta . TC has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101016233 (PERISCOPE). UD was supported by the National Research Programme project VPP-COVID-2020/1-0008. EGl acknowledges funding support from the Luxembourg National Research Fund as part of the COVID-19 Fast-Track research project CovScreen (COVID-19/2020-1/14715687). MEK was supported by grants from The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) , grant number 10430022010001 , and grant number 91216062 , and by the H2020 project 101003480 (CORESMA). TK was supported by the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology . JK has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 724460 ). NL has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, project EpiPose (grant agreement number 101003688 ), and the Swiss National Science Foundation (project number 176233 ). HM was supported by the University of Minho. MPe was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (Grant Nos. P1-0403 and J1-2457 ). MPi is currently supported by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) [ ES/S013873/1 ; ES/T014164/1 ], UK Medical Research Council (MRC) [ MR/S035818/1 ], and Wellcome Trust [ 209519/Z/17/Z ; 106612/Z/14/Z ]. ESz acknowledges funding by the Polish National Science Centre OPUS grant no 2019/33/B/NZ2/00956 and SONATA-BIS grant no 2020/38/E/NZ2/00305 . The remaining authors have no funding source to declare. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s)
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