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At least 1.4 million lives were saved in Europe due to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, Euronews reported on Tuesday, citing the World Health Organization (WHO)’s European regional office.

This was according to a new WHO study released on a preprint server analysing the influence of COVID-19 vaccines in 34 countries - all but one - in Europe.

COVID-19 vaccines reduced deaths by 57 per cent between December 2020 when the vaccine rollouts began and March 2023, the study found.

The cumulative death toll in the European region, which currently sits at 2.5 million lives, could have reached nearly 4 million people without vaccines, the WHO said.

The study estimated, in particular, that 96 per cent of those whose lives were saved due to vaccination were over the age of 60.

The WHO warned meanwhile that Europe faces high levels of influenza infections.

In the last two weeks, there has been a 58 per cent increase in reported hospitalisations and 21 per cent increase in ICU admissions compared to the previous two weeks, according to Kluge, with flu infections increasing fourfold between November and December.

In response to a question from Euronews Next about rising influenza levels, Widdowson said that with all viruses, we should expect the unexpected.

But he added that after the COVID-19 pandemic, many people “haven’t been exposed to influenza,” which could be contributing to rising cases as some people may still be susceptible.

WHO Europe also warned that the COVID-19 situation, with cases currently decreasing, could change in the region, as a new variant called JN.1 is rising in prevalence among cases.