Is the long-awaited turning point in the corona crisis finally imminent?
New data on the Biontech vaccine from Israel indicate a crucial aspect that could herald the "return to normal".
Tel Aviv - Germany and the world have been in a state of emergency corona for about a year.
More and more people are suffering from the consequences of the pandemic, from fears of the new disease Covid-19 and the considerable consequences of the months-long lockdown.
New data from Israel could now herald a turning point and give hope for a return to normalcy.
Corona vaccine: Israel's Biontech study shows amazing data on effectiveness
Almost 96 percent effectiveness after a complete vaccination - this value comes from new data from Israel on the corona vaccine from the Mainz-based company Biontech and its US partner Pfizers.
Vaccinated people were found to have 95.8 percent fewer infections two weeks after the second dose of vaccine than non-vaccinated people.
The Israeli Ministry of Health announced on Saturday.
One week after the second dose, the effectiveness was 91.9 percent.
According to the study, the vaccine protects against serious illness by 99.2 percent two weeks after the second dose.
The vaccination prevented a fatal outcome by 98.9 percent.
Turning point in the corona crisis: Biontech vaccinated people no longer contagious?
But another protective aspect of vaccination now seems to be emerging - and this could herald the long-awaited turning point in the corona crisis.
Apparently, the vaccination also protects against a detectable infection with Sars-CoV-2.
This is reported by
Der Spiegel
and
Bild.de
and refer to a previously unpublished study by the Israeli Ministry of Health and the manufacturer Pfizer.
The study is based on data from 1.7 million vaccinated.
It has not yet been published, neither as a so-called preprint nor in a scientific journal.
But that should still happen.
That would mean that vaccinated people are not only protected against the virus, but are also no longer contagious.
The study was
leaked
from the Israeli news website
Ynet
, according to the report
.
Lauterbach celebrates Israel study - "return to normal life"
The positive indications have not yet been officially confirmed.
But health expert Karl Lauterbach (SPD) dares a first assessment of the new data.
“These evaluations are of great importance.
They are the first clear indication that after vaccination you are neither infected nor contagious, ”the epidemiologist von
Bild is
quoted as saying.
“This means that the vaccination would actually enable herd immunity - and enable a return to normal life.
At least that is what the results with Biontech suggest at the moment, ”the epidemiologist continues.
Lauterbach also viewed the results optimistically with regard to the corona mutations that are currently spreading, such as the variant from Great Britain that is considered to be more aggressive.
Because this is "very big" in Israel, according to the SPD expert.
Israel as a pioneer in vaccination - data also give hope for Germany
The Israeli vaccination campaign is considered to be the most successful in the world.
In Israel, which has 9.3 million inhabitants, according to new information from the Ministry of Health, 4.25 million people have already received at least one corona vaccine dose.
2.88 million people have already received both of the vaccine doses necessary for full immunization.
Everyone aged 16 and over can now make an appointment for a vaccination.
The government plans to offer vaccinations to all residents of the country by the end of March.
Even if the proportion of people vaccinated in Germany is still significantly lower, the numbers give hope.
The so-called “sterile immunity” of a vaccination is a central aspect for returning to a normal life. This means that vaccinated persons are not only protected against the virus, but cannot infect anyone else.
The so-called “herd immunity” of the population could thus be achieved.
Post-Vaccination Sterile Immunity: Further Studies with Evidence
There was already evidence of a possible “sterile immunity” after vaccination in another study from Israel, which, however, has not yet been reviewed by experts.
If people become infected with the Sars-CoV-2 pathogen after a corona vaccination, they apparently reproduce fewer viruses than unvaccinated people - and would therefore be less contagious.
That's what a team led by Idan Yelin from the Institute of Technology in Haifa found out.
Clemens Wendtner from the Munich-Klinik-Schwabing also rated the results as "an occasion for hope".
In those 1,140 people who had been vaccinated 12 to 28 days ago, the viral load determined by PCR was four times lower than in the unvaccinated.
Wendtner emphasizes: "The vaccine BNT162b2 not only leads to individual protection of the vaccinated person with regard to Covid-19 disease, but it can also be assumed that if the population is adequately vaccinated, a certain level of civil protection in the sense of vaccine-based herd immunity can realistically arise . ”Future studies would have to show how long such an effect actually lasts.
Study from Israel: No official confirmation of "sterile immunity"
Israel's Corona officer Nachman Asch was cautious in an interview with the army broadcaster on Sunday: "We don't yet know enough about infections, that's the big unknown." It is clear that the vaccination prevents serious disease progression.
“But I don't know to what extent it prevents vaccinated people from carrying and passing on the virus.” He hopes that more will be found out about it in the coming weeks.
(va / AFP / dpa)
