Europe is facing a new wave of COVID-19 driven by the highly-transmissible BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Thursday.

"We see a new wave of COVID-19 in many members of the European Union," Marco Cavaleri, head of biological health threats and vaccines strategy of the EMA, told an online press conference from Amsterdam.

"The wave is driven by BA.4 and BA.5 which are highly transmissible," Cavaleri added. "Based on current predictions, BA.4 and BA.5 are expected to become dominant across the European countries, likely replacing all other variants by the end of July."

On Tuesday, the new COVID-19 cases in Italy surpassed 100,000 for the first time since February as the Omicron BA.5 subvariant continued to spread, according to data from the Italian health ministry.

In April, the EMA already advised people aged 80 and above to get a second booster vaccine. Now, Cavaleri repeated that message and also suggested a second booster for those aged from 60 to 79, as well as medically vulnerable people of any age.

"Although there is no evidence that the variants make people sicker than earlier strains of the virus, the increase in transmission among older age groups is starting to translate into severe diseases," Cavaleri said. 

"As this new wave is unfolding across Europe, it is essential to maintain the protection of vulnerable groups and avoid any postponement of vaccination. The authorized vaccines still give good protection against increased hospitalization, severe illness and death."  

The virus is not just spreading again in Europe. The World Health Organization said on June 30 that the number of new cases rose by 18 percent in the previous week, with more than 4.1 million cases reported globally.

The UN health agency said in its latest weekly report on the pandemic that the worldwide number of deaths remained relatively similar to the week before, at about 8,500. Deaths related to COVID-19 increased in three regions: the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Americas.

(With input from agencies)