WHO warns of half a million Covid deaths in Europe by spring

The WHO has warned that there could be half a million Covid-related deaths across Europe by spring unless urgent action is taken. In Austria on Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Vienna to express concern about government plans to make vaccination mandatory by February.

Also on the programme, journalist and historian Anne Applebaum discusses Belarussian president’s tensions with Poland and Russia’s escalations with Ukraine.

And, Bosnian born author Igor Memic warns about a possible return of a conflict.

Joining Julian Worricker to discuss these and other issues are Helene von Bismarck, historian, author and research fellow at King’s College’s Centre for British Politics and Government, and Mark Kersten, a senior researcher at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto in Canada and senior consultant at the Wayamo Foundation.

(Photo: A police officer checks the vaccination status of a shopper at the entrance of a store after the Austrian government imposed a lockdown on roughly two million people who are not fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Vienna, Austria, November 16, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner)