In the case of Omikron, there are increasing indications of a milder course. An infectiologist warns of a dangerous fallacy.
Munich – The Omikron variant caused a stir for the first time in November. Since then, the new coronavirus variant has been spreading extremely quickly – including in Europe. The pace is breathtaking. The corona cases in Germany are extremely high, the peak of the omicron wave is far from being reached. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) expects the peak in the current wave in around four weeks. The booster campaign is in full swing.
Omicron: Infectiologist Spinner warns of dangerous misjudgment
Much about Omikron still seems uncertain. More and more data indicate a mild course in omicron infection. This information is not a reason for doctors and experts to give the all-clear. On the contrary.
“A very dangerous assumption is that omicron is less pathogenic and therefore no vaccinations are necessary,” emphasizes the Munich infectiologist Christoph Spinner in an interview focus.de. Great Britain has a higher vaccination rate than Germany. In addition, many more people in South Africa and Great Britain have already had a corona infection and acquired partial immune protection. There was a so-called infestation here. The data do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about Germany. Here the situation is different.
Omicron infection risk for the unvaccinated
“Unvaccinated people are just as endangered by omicron as by other virus variants,” says senior physician Spinner. Therein lies the great danger. Because unfortunately too many people in Germany are still unvaccinated, even in the risk groups.
“The basic vaccination alone does not provide effective protection against omicrons,” explained infectiologist Christoph Spinner in an interview focus.de. “The booster is also indispensable against Delta and also for Omicron.”
This is how big the corona vaccination gap is in Germany
20.6 million people in Germany are not vaccinated (24.7 percent of the population). For 4.0 million between the ages of 0 and 4 years (4.8 percent) there is no approved vaccine available so far. This emerges from the data from the vaccination dashboard (as of January 20). 60.8 million people (73.1 percent) are already fully vaccinated. 40.7 million people (48.9 percent) also received a booster vaccination.
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