COVID vaccine misinformation and hesitancy are 'spreading as fast as the virus' in Eastern Europe

Russian COVID testing sign.
(Image credit: NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Image)

Amid rising infections and a resurgence in cases, some parts of Europe — Central and Eastern Europe, namely — are battling vaccine hesitancy issues of their own, The Washington Post reports.

"We are currently experiencing a pandemic mainly among the unvaccinated," said German Health Minister Jens Spahn at a recent news conference. "And it is massive." Germany's vaccination rate falls slighly behind Britain and France's, per the Post. The European Union's overall 65 percent vaccination rate is "buoyed in part" by uptake in heavily-vaccinated countries like Portugal, but "bogged down by lagging efforts" elsewhere.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Brigid Kennedy

Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.