Baku, April 29, AZERTAC “Here in the European Region, it has been 462 days since the first COVID-19 cases were reported. Based on numbers of confirmed cases, 5.5% of the entire European population has now had COVID-19, while 7% has completed a full vaccination series,” World Health Organization's regional director for Europe Hans Kluge said in a statement, according to the official website of the Organization.“But even as new cases, hospitalizations and deaths decline, the threat remains present. The virus still carries the potential to inflict devastating effects. As a matter of fact, close to half of all COVID-19 infections in the Region since January last year were reported to WHO during the first 4 months of this year,” he said. “For the first time in 2 months, new cases fell significantly last week. Yet, infection rates across the Region remain extremely high. Across most countries, individual and collective public health and social measures remain dominant factors in shaping the pandemic’s course. Crucially, national governments in the Region are slowly but surely protecting those most at risk of severe disease and death through vaccination. To date, some 215 million doses of vaccine have been administered. Approximately 16% of the Region’s population has had a first vaccine dose, and 81% of health workers in 28 countries in the Region have had a first dose,” the WHO regional director added.