Corona mutations as a threat to vaccine development? Virologist Drosten formulates a clear position

How well is Germany dealing with the second corona wave?

Do Virus Mutations Threaten Vaccine Development?

Christian Drosten gets to the bottom of these questions in his podcast.

• In the middle of the second wave of the coronavirus *, Germany is entering partial lockdown.

• How promising is the new vaccine?

  And how dangerous are virus mutations?

• Virologist Christian Drosten goes into the details in the “Coronavirus Update” podcast and has some good news.

Berlin - The second wave of the

rolling over Germany with full force.

That is why the federal and state governments

decided on

a

at the end of October

.

In November, the Germans are supposed to keep their contacts to an absolute minimum.

Rapidly increasing case numbers had led to the tough decision.

However, news spread on Monday that the companies

and

announcing

an imminent

.

This should protect 90 percent from infection.

New vaccine: Virologist Christian Drosten would be vaccinated

Virologist

calls

this value

“impressive”

in his podcast

, which he

records

weekly with his colleague Sandra Ciesek for the

.

However, he does raise concerns that the percentage could still be corrected downwards if the tests continue.

You have to expect that.

At the scientific level, there are still

* open.

Nevertheless, the news about the vaccine is "very encouraging".

In

all probability there will be

no

in Germany.

You don't want to force anyone to have a vaccination.

Most people have concerns about the serum's rapid development.

Drosten himself says in the podcast, however, that he had

getting vaccinated.

New corona vaccine in sight: are mutations a threat to effectiveness?

Viruses keep mutating, but that's completely normal for scientists.

The

* has also mutated.

Most recently, a

known in which a new corona variant first appeared in minks and then spread to people.

The government then decided

further spread.

It was feared that the mutation could

affect

the

.

Virologist Drosten sees this risk as rather low.

According to him, killing the animals is a political precaution.

The new

does not spread quickly.

“It is quite possible that it has long since stopped circulating in people,” he explains in the podcast.

He also

see the effectiveness of the vaccine

.

, director of the Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene at Cologne University Hospital,

sees it similarly

.

Although some antibodies in the vaccine could be neutralized by the mink mutation, there are still many

that would continue to work, he explains in an interview with

.

Both virologists do not go out before the vaccine is compromised.

Virologist Christian Drosten in the podcast: What does the partial lockdown bring in the fight against Corona?

At the moment the vaccine is not yet available.

Therefore, non-pharmaceutical interventions such as the “lockdown light” are still necessary.

In fact, the

reported

lower numbers

on Wednesday with

new infections than on Sunday.

The curve seems to flatten out a little.

Also the important

*

is now back to around 1, which means that each infected person only infects one other person.

According to Drosten, this development is also “really good news”.

Just in my mail.

Initial contact with COVID-19 can do the persuasive work that all other information channels miss.

Still, I hope for a second prevention paradox for Germany.

pic.twitter.com/YluTfsiIg3

- Christian Drosten (@c_drosten) November 3, 2020

But he could not say exactly what caused this tendency.

“We are in the

” he clarifies.

It is possible that people began to restrict their contacts even before the lockdown.

The

could also play a role as the students stayed at home.

On the other hand, it cannot be ruled out that the

and simply cannot keep up with the recording of new cases.

List of rubric lists: © Christophe Gateau / dpa