CTI marks EU Respi Day, keeping COVID-19 high on Europe’s respiratory health agenda

15 October 2025

15 October marks EU Respiratory Day, when stakeholders across Europe come together to highlight the ongoing impact of respiratory infections like COVID – as well as influenza and RSV – and to call for stronger, more integrated prevention strategies.

For the COVID Transition Initiative (CTI), this moment underscores the need to keep COVID firmly embedded within Europe’s broader respiratory health agenda.

Despite the ongoing endemic threat posed by COVID, annual uptake of vaccines across Europe remains low – leaving older-adults and at-risk groups particularly vulnerable. Knowledge gaps on COVID’s true disease burden, limited awareness of available vaccine options and siloed public health approaches all undermine our shared goal of increasing uptake and thereby protection.

Sustained vaccination strategies are essential to protect vulnerable populations and to build the resilient, integrated immunisation systems Europe needs for the long term.

As part of the activities marking EU Respiratory Day, CTI Co-Chair Prof. Dr. Leif Erik Sander took part in the European Parliament event “Closing Immunisation Gaps: A Comprehensive EU Framework for Respiratory Infection Prevention”, organised by the Steering Group on the Prevention of Respiratory Infections.

During his remarks, Prof. Dr. Sander stated that: “COVID-19 may no longer be a public health emergency, but it has not gone away. With 200,000 hospitalizations in Germany last year alone, the burden remains high. To improve vaccine uptake and public health outcomes, we need faster, harmonized data across the EU. Timely insights drive effective action.”