National authorities have warned citizens about "difficult" weeks ahead, as more than a quarter of EU countries are seeing strained health systems - amid a blame-game over the slow rollout of the vaccine in some member states.
As of Monday (11 January), the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Lithuania have registered the highest infection rates in Europe - triggering a reintroduction or extension of emergency measures, aimed at reducing the transmission totals.
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Elena is EUobserver's editor-in-chief. She is from Spain and has studied journalism and new media in Spanish and Belgian universities. Previously she worked on European affairs at VoteWatch Europe and the Spanish news agency EFE.