The German virologist Christian Drosten (49) sees the booster vaccination as the most effective weapon against Omikron. You can now say that the Covid variant is milder, said the scientist in the NDR. But “what really protects against Omikron is the triple vaccination”.
Drosten referred to a study by Imperial College London, according to which people with a booster vaccination have about twice as much protection from hospitalization as those who have been vaccinated twice or who have recovered. Drosten: “The triple vaccination makes the difference.”
Even unvaccinated people are exposed to a 24 percent lower risk compared to Delta with Omikron. This is good news for the unvaccinated. However, Drosten inevitably reckons with many severe illnesses in this risk group. The increased protection of the booster vaccination is very clear, says Drosten: “The gain from vaccinated twice to vaccinated three times is almost doubled.” Unvaccinated people are much more at risk.
Vaccination chief Christoph Berger: “Much better protection against Omikron with Booster”(01:35)
Doubt about vaccination every few months
Booster yes, but what next? A leading corona vaccination expert who helped develop the Oxford and Astrazeneca Covid vaccine believes it is not feasible to vaccinate people in the world several times a year in the future. First of all, there needs to be valid scientific reasons as to whether vaccination should continue.
“We can’t vaccinate the planet every four to six months. That is neither sustainable nor affordable. ” Andrew Pollard (56), director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and head of the British Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, said the newspaper “The Telegraph”.
He thinks a fourth vaccination is only necessary if there is scientific evidence to support it. In the future, the weakest are to be vaccinated in a targeted manner instead of giving a regular dose to all people aged 12 and over. More data is needed to determine “if, when and how often people at risk need additional doses,” said Pollard.
“Just have to get through the winter”
Pollard insists, however, that the worst of the pandemic is “absolutely behind us”. We just have to get through the winter. Isolation and measures would not bring any improvement in the medium and long term: “At some point, society has to open up. If we open up, there will be a period of spike in infections. “
Therefore, this winter is “probably not the best time” for openings. (kes)