The Surge of COVID-19 in Europe: Hope for A Maskless Future Is Slipping Away
Coronavirus cases have been on the rise in every European country throughout the past two weeks, with one third of the continent facing more than double the amount of cases. The leisurely perspective that has been adapted towards safety procedures is to blame for the crisis is, specifically the lack of enforcement of the mask mandate and proof of vaccinations. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that unless stricter measures are put in place the region can expect to see 500,000 new deaths at the hands of the virus by February.
"We are at another critical point of pandemic resurgence," said Dr. Hans Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, during a news briefing in early November. "Europe is back at the epicenter of the pandemic, where we were one year ago."
The region most at risk is Eastern Europe, specifically former communist countries. These nations face the issue of populations that are hesitant to receive vaccinations. While vaccination rates in many Western European countries, such as Portugal and France, have crossed the 70% mark, nations in the Eastern half of the continent, such as Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Belarus, remain below 30%.
Russia’s death rate was the highest in the world during the first week of November 2021. With a vaccination rate below 40%, the public is under threat. Germany, which is out of the Eastern European sphere but shares a communist background, has also been facing dreadful data. The country experienced the highest daily number of cases since the start of the pandemic, with over 37,000 new infections.
This leads to the question: What is to blame for the drastic difference in vaccination rates between Western and Eastern Europe?
The legacy of communism and the harsh transition period after its collapse formed cultures of public distrust and skepticism of authority. Tightly regulated media and the limitation of personal rights characterized the history of these countries. When communist rule ended, the worst recessions in modern history hit the region. The average post-communist nation needed 17 years to return to their pre-1989 levels of output, spawning feelings of antagonism for the government and creating an environment where disinformation campaigns flourished.
According to the World Values Survey, in Eastern Europe there has been a fixed decline in the percentage of people who agree with the statement “most people can be trusted.” The decline was larger in countries that faced greater post-communist recessions, and remains low, despite the adjustment of the economy. Meanwhile, public trust of the government generally increased in Western Europe between 1991 and 2007.
Trust in political institutions fell by half from 1990 to 2013 in the regions of Europe that are currently struggling the most with the pandemic - a link that is not merely a coincidence. The market for fake COVID-vaccination certificates is booming in these areas as people continue to find holes in the system. Unless stricter measures are put in place, the globe’s farewell to the pandemic may have to be postponed.
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