World marks the third anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic

It has been three years since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a public health emergency of international concern – the highest level of alert.

Since then, the virus has claimed nearly seven million lives, two million of them in Europe alone. But some experts say this data is an underestimate.

Compared to 2020, one factor in particular has had a huge impact on the situation: the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines that have been developed in an unprecedentedly short time.

Public health expert Professor Jeffrey Lazarus says several sub-variants of Omicron are currently infecting thousands in Europe and continue to claim lives.

And there is another major concern that worries the scientific community. The millions of Europeans who have had or still have Covid for a long time.

“But we don’t know exactly how much,” says Lazarus. “It is one of the important pending, and I would say urgent issues for the European health authorities. To follow the long Covid situation. It’s very serious.”

And, he says, it’s not yet certain whether vaccine boosters should be recommended to fight the long-term version of the disease.

Greece, Germany and Spain were the last European countries to mandate face masks in certain closed areas, but that rule is about to be lifted.

Lazarus warns that people must remain very vigilant. He says we are still in a state of pandemic and governments must continue to fight vaccine hesitancy.

“We found out that despite all the preparations that had been made, we were not ready for this pandemic, and the general population was completely taken by surprise, as were many governments,” he says.

Scientists are warning that Covid-19 is likely to be with us for quite some time, and that other pandemics are also on the horizon due to the close bond between humans and animals due to factors such as climate change and intensive agriculture.

But the good news, says Lazarus, is that the world now knows the importance of pandemic preparedness, and that will stay with us forever.