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It will be tough again, says the virologist in an interview with the “SonntagsZeitung”, but this Sars-CoV-2 variant is probably the last of the pandemic. Switzerland needs broader immune protection all the more urgently.
The problem on the way there: The large vaccination gaps in the older population.
AFP
Closing the vaccination gaps is ultimately the responsibility of society.
AFP
The German virologist Christian Drosten suspects Omikron is the last variant of this pandemic.
But before we can breathe easy, it’ll be hard again.
Because the fact that Omikron leads to easier processes has not yet been proven.
Christian Drosten, the director of virology at the Berlin Charité, has made a name for himself as a “Corona expert” in Germany and beyond. Time and again he makes it into the Swiss press with his prognoses and assessments. In an interview with the “SonntagsZeitung” (paid article), he now says that with Omikron we have probably already arrived at this variant, with which we are entering the “endemic phase”.
What does that mean?
That means: Because the Omikron variant is so contagious, it will remain with us even after the pandemic. You will replace Delta entirely or circulate together with Delta, so Drosten: “Because of its enormous infectivity, this virus will be the first post-pandemic virus.”
In addition, Omikron probably does not make you as seriously ill as its predecessor variants. Although this has not yet been scientifically confirmed, initial studies from South Africa and Great Britain should indicate that the weakening is not only due to the immunization of the population.
The problem in Switzerland, however, is the large vaccination gaps in the elderly population: people over 60 who have not yet contracted the coronavirus. One has to wait and see whether the current measures take effect or whether 1G: «boosted» is introduced. Because with Omikron the double vaccination helps against severe courses, but almost not against the infection itself and also not against the transmission of the virus. “It will be tough again,” warns Drosten.
When is the endemic phase reached?
Nonetheless, he is certain: vaccinations help us to reach the endemic phase without unnecessarily dying many people. Endemic means nothing else than that the virus then occurs permanently in a limited region or population.
But how to do iteto close the vaccination gaps, staye The task of politics and ultimately society, says Drosten.
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