Timo Lenzen / DER SPIEGEL
Dear readers,
Hand on heart: If you were offered the opportunity to take part in a study on the effectiveness of a new corona vaccine, i.e. to have either the previously untested active ingredient or a completely ineffective placebo injected - how would you answer?
Probably with: No, thanks.
After all, you could also have a tested and proven effective substance hunted down your arm: from Biontech, for example, or Moderna, or from AstraZeneca.
The latter is not particularly popular, but still reliably protects against Covid-19.
In addition to several other problems (which my colleague Julia Merlot and my colleague Jörg Blech have described here), this is the dilemma of the German vaccine manufacturer Curevac.
A year ago, the offer to take part in an efficacy study of the new mRNA vaccine would have been tempting.
Today, when there are a number of safe protective means, such an offer is almost unethical.
The preliminary failure of the German biotech hopefuls to meet the effectiveness criteria of its approval study is without question the bad news of the week.
In an interim analysis, the company had to admit an effectiveness of just 47 percent.
If the result is confirmed in this tendency, the product will probably not receive approval.
Further studies with possibly modified variants of the mRNA vaccine are now the most important way for Curevac to get approval for its drug after all.
But it is getting stonier every day.
The company now has a double disadvantage in terms of time: Finding test subjects is likely to become increasingly difficult - at the same time, the drug (unlike the competition) has to prove itself against mutants from the start.
For the German vaccination campaign, a successful approval would meanwhile be irrelevant; due to the persistent delays, plans have long been made without the mRNA vaccine from Tübingen.
For the world, however, a success would be important: after all, it could be produced more cheaply and stored more easily than comparable materials.
Enlarge image
The new SPIEGEL, now digital and tomorrow at the kiosk
"Super medicine: therapies against cancer, allergies, heart attacks, dementia - everything else mRNA technology can do," is the title of the new SPIEGEL. You can
now get the digital
copy
and from Saturday at the kiosk
The Curevac disaster
Disappointing Curevac interim analysis: the 47 percent setback
It took a long time, now the interim results on the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine from the Tübingen company Curevac are available.
What does the sobering effect of 47 percent mean and why is it?
Low Vaccine Efficacy: Curevac Loses Half of Its Market Value
After an interim analysis of the effectiveness of Curevac's corona vaccine turned out to be disappointing, the company's shares plummeted.
The exchange rate losses are around 50 percent.
Study important for approval: Covid vaccine from Curevac fails success criteria
Only 47 percent effectiveness: The corona vaccine candidate CVnCoV from Curevac did not meet the specified goals in an interim analysis.
The Tübingen-based company reported this in a mandatory report.
The delta problem
Rapid spread: Delta variant in Germany - World Medical Association calls for a review of the relaxation
"High viral load in the throat": According to the World Medical Association, the delta mutant of the coronavirus is likely to spread quickly in the Federal Republic.
The Chancellery advises against traveling to the European Championship finals because of the variant.
Corona pandemic: RKI reports an increase in the proportion of the Delta virus variant in Germany
The dangerous Delta variant of the
corona virus
is increasingly spreading in Germany.
The numbers are still quite low overall, but experts advise caution - especially with regard to Great Britain.
Corona news on Thursday: More than a hundred students in quarantine after the Delta outbreak
In the vicinity of two students in North Rhine-Westphalia, infections with the Delta variant were found - this has consequences for the entire graduate class.
And: The highest increase in infections in Great Britain in almost four months.
The overview.
Johnson postpones easing: Englishmen have to wait longer for "Freedom Day" - Delta variant is spreading
The British government actually wanted to lift all corona restrictions by the end of June.
But because of the rapid spread of the delta mutation, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has to correct himself.
First India, then Great Britain - and now? What the spread of the delta variant means for Germany
The delta variant is now dominating corona events in Great Britain, and the government has postponed planned easing.
The situation could also get serious for the rest of Europe.
Covid-19 in worldwide numbers
Confirmed Cases: 177,440,252
Deaths: 3,842,445
Germany: 3,720,031 confirmed sick people, 90,270 deaths
Sources: CSSE / Johns Hopkins University, as of June 18, 2021, 10:21 am;
Robert Koch Institute, as of June 18, 2021, 3.12 a.m.
Research news
Corona vaccine: Novavax is highly effective according to the study
According to the manufacturer, the protein vaccine from Novavax has proven itself in studies, and approval is to be applied for in the third quarter.
The company aims to produce at least 100 million cans per month.
What else was important
Self-
certification at schools in Baden-Württemberg: Invitation to test fraud
Parents fill out a self-certification for a negative test for their child, the school stamps it, and the logo of the Ministry of Culture is emblazoned over it.
Sounds absurd?
Is possible in Baden-Württemberg.
Infections despite vaccinations in Chile: "We are really a negative example, you shouldn't do it like Chile"
Young people become infected and die: Despite high vaccination rates, Chile is experiencing a corona disaster.
Health expert Soledad Martínez describes the paradox - and what it means for other countries.
Technical difficulties: Where there is still a problem with the digital vaccination certificate
Since Monday, digital vaccination certificates have been handed out to those who have been completely vaccinated.
But not everything is running smoothly yet: there are technical, organizational and communication problems.
Have a nice weekend
Yours Michail Hengstenberg
