"It’s not due to lack of vaccines," he said, noting that the joint procurement of vaccines at the European Union level meant all 27 member states "were able to buy equivalent quantities of vaccines."
"Despite having access to vaccines, those countries did not manage to convince their population to get vaccinated," he said.
At least 1 in 3 people in countries in eastern Europe do not trust the health care system, compared to an average of 18 percent across the EU, a
European Commission poll known as the Eurobarometer found,
Reuters reported.
Romania and Bulgaria are among the countries with the lowest rates of vaccine uptake across the continent, according to the
EU’s vaccination tracker.
The latest data showed that less than 23 percent of the adult population in Bulgaria had been fully vaccinated, while just over 25 percent had had at least one shot. In Romania, just under 34 percent of the population above age 18 had been fully vaccinated, while almost 38 percent had had at least one dose.
A woman holds a poster at an anti-Covid vaccination protest in Sofia, Bulgaria, last month.Hristo Rusev / Getty Images
The Eurobarometer poll showed that respondents in both countries were among the least likely to express enthusiasm for getting vaccinated.
The vaccination tracker also showed that other Eastern European countries have low vaccination rates compared to their Western neighbors.
That "means that high case rates there translate [into] a very high death toll," Wenseleers said.
Danny Altmann, a professor of immunology at Imperial College London, said that as the first winter with the delta variant approaches, he was "not sure if people in Eastern Europe appreciate how punishing the pandemic continues to be in the time of delta."
Protesters hold a poster reading "Stop compulsory vaccination" at a demonstration against "compulsory" vaccination in Riga, Latvia, in August.Gints Ivuskans / AFP via Getty Images
"It’s unremitting," he said. With some Eastern European countries "at the extreme end of vaccine hesitancy," he added, "there’s no possibility of dealing with this pandemic under these conditions."
In Austria, which has long been a bridge between east and west, the government ordered a nationwide lockdown for unvaccinated people Sunday to slow the fast spread of the coronavirus.
The move means unvaccinated people older than 12 will be banned from leaving their homes from midnight Sunday, except for basic activities like working, food shopping, going for walks — or getting their shots.
“It’s our job as the government of Austria to protect the people," Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg told reporters Sunday in Vienna. “Therefore we decided that starting Monday ... there will be a lockdown for the unvaccinated.”
Epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding, a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, said the high death rates should be “a warning” for other countries with low vaccination rates.
While he said he believed the most effective approach is multipronged, including coronavirus measures like mask-wearing and social distancing, he said vaccines and booster shots are critical to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Wenseleers agreed, saying people in the U.S. should take heed of the situation unfolding across Europe.
People wait in line to get their shots at a "marathon of vaccination" at the National Library in Bucharest, Romania, last month. Daniel Mihailescu / AFP via Getty Images
U.S. states both with high and low vaccination rates could take Europe’s case numbers as "a sign that the U.S. might still see resurgences, as well," he said.
On both sides of the Atlantic, "convincing as many people to get vaccinated should be the top priority," along with "setting up booster campaigns" for those most at risk, he said.