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ABSTRACTThe article analyses the role of health, political and economic factors in governments' responses to COVID-19 pandemic in Eastern and Western Europe. It relies on survival analysis to test differences in timing of lockdowns and mixed effects models to unpack the determinants of the severity of restrictions. The results show that responses were correlated with health system capacities during the first wave, with Eastern European countries introducing restrictions early in epidemiological terms. As political and economic considerations took primacy in governments' responses, the socio-economically weaker countries in the East relaxed their restrictions sooner and were less likely to re-impose them compared to the West.