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According to the Robert Koch Institute, a good 65 percent of Germans in Germany are currently fully vaccinated against the corona virus.
How long and how well the vaccinations protect is still unclear.
But one thing is certain:
Julia Merlot, DER SPIEGEL:
“The protection against serious illness, that is, hospitalization or stay in intensive care units or death, is very, very good.
That is still 90 percent or even above in Germany according to the current data.
When protecting against infection, however, you notice that the number of antibodies does drop over time and you are no longer as well protected from infection - still better than an unvaccinated person, but not quite as good.
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So does it make sense to do an antibody test?
Julia Merlot, DER SPIEGEL:
“So far, it has really only been recommended for people whose immune system is no longer working well.
For example, people who have had an organ transplant, where it is to be feared that the vaccination might basically have no or a really bad effect.
And there you can measure and then see: If the titers are really very, very, very low, you have the indication that people may not be so well protected.
How is the increase in vaccinated patients in the intensive care units to be assessed?
Julia Merlot, DER SPIEGEL:
»Suppose we only had vaccinated people in the population, then the number of people vaccinated on intensive care would be 100 percent.
All people in intensive care would be vaccinated because the vaccine protects over 90 percent against serious illness, but not 100 percent.
So there are a small number of people who still get sick and they are then on intensive care.
And that is why the higher the vaccination rate, the higher the number of people who end up in intensive care units despite being vaccinated.
At the same time you have to look at yourself: What kind of people are they?
Here we are again with the very old, where the vaccination often does not work as well as it does with younger healthy people.
And you are with people who are ill. "
Which vaccine combination is the best?
Julia Merlot, DER SPIEGEL:
“You have now seen that you have the highest antibody values after cross-vaccination, that is, when you first received a vector vaccine and then inoculated with mRNA.
However, it is not the case that the effectiveness of a homologous vaccination sequence, i.e. if I receive two vaccines of the same type, is so bad that it would no longer be recommended. "
Who will get a third vaccination?
Julia Merlot, DER SPIEGEL:
“The permanent vaccination commission has so far recommended it to people whose immune systems are weakened. That was the very first recommendation. And now she has added that people over the age of 70 should also get a third vaccination, as well as people in nursing homes and people who look after these people. Johnson & Johnson is an exception because it is only vaccinated in one dose. And it has also been shown with all other vaccines that the protection against the much more contagious Delta variant is not as great after vaccination. And that is actually the case with Johnson & Johnson. That is why people who have received Johnson & Johnson are now advised to postpone a second vaccination with an mRNA vaccine. "
Will there ever be a third vaccination for everyone?
Julia Merlot, DER SPIEGEL:
“There is an idea that you might get a third vaccination as standard after a year, because you know that from other vaccines that a boost after a year provides a further increase in protection.
At this point in time, however, one would not necessarily assume that the entire population will be vaccinated over and over again.
We actually want to get away from it.
We want the virus to become endemic.
And the more likely variant is that we then regularly re-vaccinate the risk groups.
In the younger population, basic protection is left.
And the virus will then circulate there at a low level without causing serious illnesses.
The prerequisite is, of course, that we don't get a variant that leads to problems. "
