In the fight against Corona, a vaccine test on humans has now been approved for the first time. Meanwhile, several federal states buckled on Wednesday with the mask requirement.
- People continue to die worldwide due to the Coronavirus * pandemic .
- Researchers are working flat out to develop a vaccine .
- The clinical trial of a vaccine candidate has now been approved for the first time in Germany .
- Here you will find the basic facts about the corona virus *. You can also see the current number of cases in Germany as a map *. The following recommendations for corona protective measures * are currently available. The most important thing about the topic is also on our brand new Facebook page Corona News. Become a fan now.
Update from April 22, 11:16 p.m .: Now it has been decided in all federal states. The mask requirement will come. We give an overview of the situation in the individual federal states. The regulations are not the same everywhere.
Update of April 22, 9:15 p.m .: The number of Corona * -related deaths in Germany continues to rise, according to the German Press Agency , 5018 people have died so far . According to statistics from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, there are 5,185 deaths. The number of registered infections rose by 2749 to 147,508, which put the 1609 new infections from the previous day in the shade. According to the ntv, I should have increased the death toll by another 280 people in Germany.
The Johns Hopkins University currently assumes 99,400 recovered coronavirus patients . According to the DPA, the number of people currently infected is said to be 48,863 . However, the state of Berlin had technical problems with data transmission, which is why the data is incomplete. The authority reported 14 new infections, no dead and no recovered. In addition, the time when a new daily status is reported varies between the federal states.
With a value of 299.7 infections, the largest federal state of Bavaria has the highest value per 100,000 inhabitants; the national average is 177.3. However, the number of tests carried out to date per 100,000 inhabitants in the federal states varies.
Update from April 22, 6:55 p.m .: Recently, stores with an area of less than 800 square meters were allowed to open nationwide , which may have caused confusion and incomprehension among many shopkeepers. A Hamburg court overturned the law for the Hanseatic city.
The closing of the shops with more than 800 square meters of sales space, which the Senate maintained, was declared inadmissible by the Hamburg Administrative Court . The court granted an urgent request from a Hamburg sports shop with this decision, as a spokesman said. However, the Senate wants to implement the measures against the corona pandemic * and is said to have already lodged an appeal against the decision with the Hamburg Higher Administrative Court. He also requested that the rules should remain pending a decision.
According to the administrative court, the easing in shop openings that has been in effect since last Monday violates the right to freedom of occupation. A distinction between shops with a sales area of less than 800 square meters, which are now allowed to open, and larger stores, which are only allowed to open with a reduced area, "is not suitable to serve the purpose of infection control pursued by the legal regulation", the court said. Protection in large stores is "as good as or even better than in smaller facilities".
Meanwhile, virologist Prof. Drosten warned the population against losing the lead in the race against the pandemic.
Update from April 22, 3:20 p.m .: Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn has solicited understanding of difficult political decisions in the corona crisis * . On Wednesday, he said in the Bundestag "that we will probably have to forgive a lot in a few months." Never before in the history of the Federal Republic, such profound decisions and such unpredictable decisions should have been made in such a short time.
In addition to politics, there will also be a phase for society and science in which you will find that you may have been wrong at one point or another or that you would have to correct something. At a time like this, he found this “comparatively normal”.
At the same time, Spahn defended the far-reaching contact restrictions in the fight against the epidemic and rejected comparisons, for example with the flu. "I have never seen the flu that led to mass graves in New York ."
In another industry in Germany there are now corona loosenings.
Update from April 22, 2:33 p.m .: In Germany, there should now be a nationwide mask requirement to contain the corona virus . On Wednesday, Bremen, as the last federal state , also announced a must to wear mouth-nose protection : it should be decided on Friday and apply to local transport and shopping from Monday, a spokesman for the state government said.
Update of April 22, 1:50 p.m .: Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) commented on the approval of a first clinical trial with a possible Covid-19 vaccine in Germany early Wednesday afternoon . He described this development as a "good signal" . Effects and side effects would still have to be tested.
Update from April 22, 12:21 pm: As has now become known, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is also introducing a mask requirement . And Saarland, Saxony, Brandenburg and Rheinland-Pfalz want to adopt these measures to curb the spread of coronavirus. A mask requirement will now come into effect in almost all 16 federal states in the next few days.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, the mask requirement for local public transport and retail is to apply from next Monday . The government spokesman said on Wednesday in a statement. It already applies in individual cities such as Jena and also in Rosenheim in Upper Bavaria . Nationwide, the mask requirement in Bavaria will apply from next Monday. The only federal state that has not yet officially ordered the obligation to cover the mouth and nose in certain public areas is the city-state of Bremen .
Coronavirus in Germany: Paul Ehrlich Institute approves clinical vaccine testing in humans for the first time
First report from April 22:
Berlin - For the first time, the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) has given approval in Germany for the clinical trial of a vaccine candidate against Corona . As the Federal Institute for Vaccines * and Biomedical Medicines announced on Wednesday, the Mainz-based company Biontech has received approval to test its active ingredient on healthy volunteers .
Coronavirus: In Germany, clinical testing of a vaccine candidate starts with around 200 test subjects
According to the company, there will be tests on around 200 people . "The testing of vaccine candidates in humans is an important milestone on the way to safe and effective vaccines against Covid-19 for the population in Germany and beyond," said the PEI. The approval is now the result of a careful assessment of the potential benefit-risk profile of the vaccine candidate.
Biontech is cooperating with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer on the development of the vaccine . Among other things, the phase I / II clinical trial will fundamentally test the safety and tolerability of the vaccine candidate . Phase I / II refers to the steps in which a clinical trial runs as standard. First, there are so-called preclinical studies with cell and animal experiments , in phase I the clinical trial begins with a few healthy volunteers, and in phase II it is usually examined in a few hundred people whether the test candidate works. Phase I and II can also be combined, as is done in the clinical trial now starting.
The third phase of the test involves thousands of people . The results of this review phase are critical to applications for vaccine approval . Phase IV studies then only take place after approval. They are used, for example, to identify rare side effects or to investigate specific questions in certain patient groups.
The active ingredient developed by Biontech belongs to the group of gene-based vaccines . They contain genetic information about the pathogen. From this, proteins are produced in the body, against which the immune system forms antibodies . This is to protect him from being infected with the virus *.
Corona virus in Germany: Biontech has been working on immunotherapy for cancer
So far, Biontech has worked primarily on the development of immunotherapy for cancer . According to the Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, at least 80 vaccine projects have started since the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic , and four drugs have already been tested in clinical studies in China and the United States.
In Germany expected total will, according to PEI President Klaus Cichutek this year four clinical trials start with a vaccine candidate . However, Cichutek believes it is unlikely that a first approved vaccine will be available to the general population this year. In mid-April, the RKI also dampened hopes of an early vaccine - and specified a realistic time for the availability of an active ingredient.
Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins University registered 148,453 corona infected and 5086 deaths related to Covid-19 disease in Germany on Wednesday afternoon . Accordingly, 99,400 people have recovered from a corona infection .
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
dpa
Rubric list picture: © dpa / Sebastian Kahnert (symbol picture)