Increasing Covid infections in Europe prompt concerns over future U.S. Wave

Coronavirus cases are rising across some European countries, increasing worries over the possibility of another wave in the U.S.

Fifteen countries in the region are reporting increasing cases. It’s the first spike in coronavirus cases across the region since the most recent BA.5 wave began, according to a report from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

The highest two-week new infection rates are in Austria, France, Germany, Latvia and Liechtenstein.

However, overall rates of hospital or intensive care unit indicators in the region decreased or remained stable, the report found.

The report also found that less than 7% of people in the region have gotten a second COVID-19 booster shot. It’s a higher rate than what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting for the U.S.

Officials have tried to push the shots ahead of expected fall and winter waves of COVID-19. They are hopeful that the updated booster shots in the U.S., which target omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 as well as the original coronavirus strain, will be better at preventing infections at a time when many Americans are seeing waning levels of immunity.

But it isn’t clear whether enough Americans will take the shots for them to make a substantial difference. According to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll, nearly half of Americans do not plan to get the updated booster. In fact, about half of the U.S. reports hearing little to nothing about the new shots, according to the survey.

Still, coronavirus cases in the U.S. remain on the decline since the latest peak at nearly 130,000 new cases on average each day in mid-July. The daily average of new cases has dropped to below 43,000 as of Sunday, according to CDC data.

But if the increase in cases in Europe is any indication – which it typically has been during the pandemic – the decline could reverse soon. Some models predict that it will happen as soon as this month.