"The least vaccinated municipality in the country is the traditional fishing island Urk, a very traditional Christian community, where just 18% is boosted and 34% fully vaccinated."
THAT ALONE SHOULD SET OFF ALARMS
CASES RISING IN EUROPE
On the global level, what we are seeing right now is a rise in some European countries. We see a third wave, driven mainly by BA.4 and BA.5, and the relaxation of mandates, increased mobility, and low mask wearing. We see the third wave with an increasing number of reported cases, and we see it in France, in Germany, beginning of it in the UK, in Greece, in Israel.
That's a big concern for us because what has happened before in Europe has happened here in the United States, and we could see here in the United States a third wave, especially from BA.4 and BA.5, which are increasing as a percentage of the variants that are circulating.
We know right now from several studies that previous infections from other variants do not provide as much immunity against Omicron and BA.4 and BA.5. Also, the vaccines are less effective in terms of preventing infection. They're still effective against severe illness and mortality for BA.4 and BA.5.
So putting these two together, we are very much concerned that we could see potentially in the United States another wave after the second wave due to BA.4, BA.5, relaxation of the mandates, increased mobility, and low mask wearing.
We will update our numbers in July, most likely the second week due to the holiday, and we will take into account all this new information about the spread of BA.4 and BA.5 in Europe, and the new studies that are showing less effect of the vaccine against BA.4 and BA.5.