Europe could face an extra 300,000 COVID-related deaths this winter, according to a new survey.
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine study also warned that more than a million Europeans could be hospitalized as the coronavirus wreaks havoc across the continent during the next few months, The Sun reported Friday.
The study was based on the number of people in 19 countries who have been neither infected nor vaccinated, Nature.com reported.
Germany could be hit extremely hard, with study results saying 280,000 Germans could end up being hospitalized.
The analysis' authors said their estimates were maximum numbers based on all anti-infection restrictions being lifted and contacts between individuals returning to pre-pandemic levels, Nature.com reported.
The analysis had not been peer reviewed yet.
"The numbers are shocking, and they may or may not happen, but people need to be aware that COVID-19 isn’t over," said Sheryl Chang, an infectious-disease analyst at the University of Sydney in Australia, Nature.com reported.
Countries with low vaccination rates and elderly Europeans could be most susceptible during a spike in cases. For example, 8 in every 1,000 people in Romania could end up hospitalized compared with fewer than one per 1,000 in England.
Europe accounted for more than half of the seven-day average of infections globally and at least half of the latest COVID deaths, according to Reuters.
The study results came as Austria began a nationwide lockdown Friday after COVID cases surged to a new high and the Netherlands introduced a partial three-week lockdown, The Sun reported.
Germany, Greece, and Czech Republic also have placed new restrictions on its unvaccinated population.
"Despite months of persuasion, we have not succeeded in convincing enough people to get vaccinated," Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said during a press conference.
"Whipped up by radical anti-vaxxers, by fake news, too many among us didn't get vaccinated. The results are overcrowded intensive care units and enormous suffering."
The Sun reported that Austria registered 15,145 new COVID-19 cases Thursday. That was far higher than last November's peak of 9,586 confirmed cases.
Researchers collected data on COVID-19 deaths across a range of age groups in 19 European countries and estimated the total number of people who had been infected in each nation by early November 2021.
The study did not take into account what could happen if a new, more infectious variant emerged or the effects of waning immunity over time, researchers said.