Friday January 14, 2022
Strategy: slow down the wave
Lauterbach and Drosten reject contamination
Federal Health Minister Lauterbach, RKI boss Wieler and virologist Drosten warn of the omicron variant in Germany. They have taken over the country completely. Vaccination is still the main antidote. But measures must also be maintained. Because they work very well, says Lauterbach.
Despite the often milder course of infections with the omicron variant, Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach sees no reason to give the all-clear. Findings about the danger of the corona virus variant cannot be transferred one-to-one to Germany because the rate of unvaccinated people among the elderly is “particularly high”, said Lauterbach at a joint press conference with the head of the Robert Koch Institute Lothar Wieler and the virologist Christian Drosten.
Lauterbach emphasized that the current pandemic is behaving approximately as the models had predicted. In Germany it was possible to increase the doubling time of omicron propagation. Initially, this was around 4.5 days, but it has now risen to 6 to 6.5 days. A major reason for this – in contrast to Great Britain, for example – was the previously effective measures. The Minister of Health mentioned the reduction in contact in the private sector, the regulations in public transport and the 2G rules in retail. And that remains the goal. According to Lauterbach, the omicron wall is to become a hill in Germany. At least the wall shouldn’t be as high as in other countries. As a result, the minister is certain that there would be less severe courses, less long Covid and fewer deaths.
As far as is known so far, Omikron is generally milder than the Delta variant, explained Lauterbach. Nevertheless, he warns against the idea that “we in Germany can accept a contagion”. “The number of victims that we would then have to mourn is uncertain and is certainly too high,” said Lauterbach. The number of infections will also be very high. This will push hospitals and laboratories to their breaking point. Especially with regard to a possible lack of PCR tests, Lauterbach said that medical staff must be prioritized, especially when it comes to “free testing”, i.e. leaving isolation early.
No separate application for compulsory vaccination – Lauterbach says why
Lauterbach again countered the accusation that he had not submitted his own application for compulsory vaccination. As Federal Minister of Health, he must be the contact person for all MPs. He should not have an official opinion on the introduction of compulsory vaccination. You could save yourself the maneuvers of various applications in the Bundestag if the federal government would submit its own application. Privately, however, he is still clear for a general obligation to vaccinate adults. And, he emphasized at the end, enormous funds would be raised to protect people who are currently unvaccinated. The vaccination can therefore be expected from these people.
Wieler said that a good 800,000 people are currently infected in Germany. This corresponds to one percent of the total population. The hospitalization incidence is currently 7 and is slowly rising again after last falling. At its peak it was 15, according to Wieler. At the moment, young people in particular would be infected, but gradually more and more older people would become infected. This was also the case in previous waves.
Wieler emphasized that a new phase of the pandemic would be entered. The pure number of cases will become less important in the future. It will be more important how many people become seriously ill and how busy the hospitals are. The overloading of the health authorities is also important. They could no longer track all cases at the moment. The data will still be incomplete at the peak of the omicron wave, Wieler said. Each prevented infection contributes to keeping the wave small and ensures that the overload is not as severe.
Drosten criticizes the media for uncertainty
Virologist Christian Drosten pointed out that communication is currently difficult because there are good and bad messages, some of which are perceived as contradictory. It is good that the existing measures have increased the doubling time in Germany. On the other hand, the large vaccination gap is bad. According to Drosten, three million people over the age of 60 are still completely unvaccinated. If you add all the people who have not yet received a booster vaccination, there are as many as nine million people in this age group alone. For this reason, the virus cannot be “let run” in Germany at the moment, i.e. it cannot be relied on, according to the virologist. That worked in South Africa, but it doesn’t work in Germany at the moment. For this reason, Drosten warns to prepare for the coming autumn and winter. In his opinion, older people should be boosted again. The best thing is a vaccination in the second quarter, which is tailored to the omicron variant and all previously known variants.
When asked about compulsory vaccination, Drosten turned to the media. He said that in the past some media outlets have portrayed the pandemic and the measures in place as excessive. This has led to great uncertainty among the population. Media should provide correct information and thus increase people’s motivation to get vaccinated. From his point of view, this is central: a lot of talking and motivation for vaccination. The obligation to vaccinate, on the other hand, is a purely political question.