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Corona: Garden party with vaccinated and convalescent people

2021-06-21T00:27:32.412Z


Celebrating outside with friends in summer: Despite the corona pandemic, this is allowed if those present are vaccinated. But what happens if the unvaccinated also come?


Enlarge image

Visitors to James-Simon-Park in Berlin (on June 13th): Secure parties or events with quick tests in summer

Photo: Jens Kalaene / dpa

Anyone who has been fully vaccinated or recovered from Corona no longer has to present them at places where rapid tests are required.

In addition, vaccinated and convalescent people are excluded from the contact restrictions that are still in force.

Which means: You can meet with any number of other vaccinated and convalescent people.

They are not included in meetings with unvaccinated people, for example with family or friends.

The Infection Protection Act "does not apply to a private gathering in which only vaccinated or recovered people take part," according to Section 4 of the Covid-19 Protective Measures Exemption Ordinance.

So anyone planning a garden party and only inviting those who have been completely vaccinated or recovered is at least legally on the safe side.

But also medically?

Should the guests make sure they are not infected with Corona by means of a quick test?

After all, the "probability that a person will become PCR-positive despite a complete vaccination is low, but not zero," writes the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

It must be assumed that "after contact with Sars-CoV-2, despite vaccination (asymptomatic), some people become PCR-positive and also excrete infectious viruses".

According to the RKI, the risk must be reduced by observing measures such as keeping your distance and wearing a mask.

Carsten Watzl, Secretary General of the German Society for Immunology (DGfI), still gives the green light for a garden party with completely vaccinated people.

His calculation: The risk of a fully vaccinated person being infected is significantly reduced, depending on the vaccine - by around 90 percent at Biontech and around 70 percent at AstraZeneca.

These numbers correspond to those of the RKI.

And even if someone who has been vaccinated becomes infected, his viral load is significantly lower, making him significantly less contagious, explains Watzl.

If all participants are double vaccinated and the whole thing takes place outside in the summer, "the risk is almost zero".

However, according to DGfI President Christine Falk, those who have recovered can differ immunologically from those who have been completely vaccinated.

The groups are only comparable if those who have recovered are immunized with a single booster about six months after the infection.

Rapid antigen tests, even when the incidences are low

For Watzl, too, the group of those who have recovered is »heterogeneous« from an immunological point of view.

This means that some who have gone through the disease show antibody levels like those who have been vaccinated and "probably also have comparable protection."

But it also happens that those who have recovered have no detectable antibodies.

Nevertheless, according to Watzl, they could be protected from a severe corona infection by T cells - i.e. memory cells.

The situation is different if people who have not been vaccinated also take part in the party: Then, according to Watzl, the risk that they are infectious is greater.

These people could also get infected more easily.

In this case, the immunologist recommends rapid antigen tests, even if the incidences are currently low.

DGfI President Falk sees it similarly: As long as around half of the population has not yet been vaccinated, "it would make very good sense not to give the virus any room to spread."

She therefore recommends securing parties or events with quick tests in summer.

wbr / dpa

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2021-06-21

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