the three question marks today:
Why is the breakthrough not a breakthrough?
How did the train accident in the Czech Republic come about?
Who is the man who got champagne in the editorial office?
1.
Why is the breakthrough not a breakthrough?
Outside of medicine, the word breakthrough usually has positive connotations: breakthrough in collective bargaining, breakthrough in tunnel work, breakthrough in coalition talks. Something has been achieved. However, when you hear of breakthroughs recently, many people shudder. Because recently there has been talk of vaccination breakthroughs everywhere. Unfortunately, this does not mean that the vaccination campaign against the corona pandemic has finally picked up so much speed that we are on the verge of herd immunity. Quite the opposite: the curve of those who have been vaccinated is noticeably flattening out, the number of those who have been completely vaccinated only increases very slowly. And now we keep hearing of cases in which corona disease broke out despite a double vaccination: the vaccination breakthrough. Not us,but the virus has done something - namely outwitted the antibodies. That sounds dramatic - and for those affected, who actually felt safe, it is too. Nevertheless, there is no reason to give up. Because vaccination breakthroughs are actually to be expected.
None of the approved corona vaccines have been certified to be one hundred percent effective. So if a vaccine has an effectiveness of 95 percent, there remains a residual risk for those who have been vaccinated to contract Corona. Overall, the total number of people affected is very small. According to the Robert Koch Institute, of around 44 million people who have been vaccinated twice, around 7200 have been infected with corona despite being vaccinated. This number will continue to increase, yes, but only in relation to the fully vaccinated. My colleague Katherine Rydlink also spoke to vaccine researcher Leif Erik Sander from Charité about this. His thesis: According to the RKI figures, vaccination breakthroughs occur more frequently in seniors. Sander's thesis on this: the elderly have a weaker immune response to the vaccines - and they were among the first to be vaccinated,now the vaccination protection may slowly decrease.
Elsewhere, too, the all-clear was rather signaled. A few days ago a Japanese team published a so-called pre-print about the Corona variant Lambda. They attested that this variant was more infectious and suggested that vaccines might not help at all. Carsten Watzl, Secretary General of the German Society for Immunology, is calm. The data showed that lambda was slightly more contagious than the original virus in laboratory tests, but not more contagious than the Delta variant. Lambda could therefore "escape immune protection somewhat, but not as strongly as Delta." Because Lambda is less contagious than Delta, it has not yet spread in Germany, so there is no real danger from this variant so far.
Read Katherine Rydlink's two most recent articles on vaccination breakthroughs here:
Why vaccinated people become infected - and what that means
The danger posed by vaccination breakthroughs
2.
How did the train accident in the Czech Republic come about?
When the news of the collision of two trains near the German-Czech border came through the agencies today, I immediately thought of the serious train accident five years ago in Bad Aibling in Upper Bavaria.
Two regional trains collided head-on, ten people, including the two train drivers, were killed.
At that time, human error was the cause, a dispatcher played with his cell phone and thereby set the wrong signals.
Enlarge image
Emergency services at the disaster site in Milavče: old system, human error
Photo: Miroslav Chaloupka / imago images / CTK Photo
In the current case in the Czech Republic, both train drivers were killed, ten people were brought to Czech hospitals with serious to life-threatening injuries, and this time too, according to initial findings, it was probably a human error that caused the accident. One of the two train drivers apparently ignored a stop signal. Rather, it is not yet known. The investigations are likely to drag on for months. Accidents happen again and again on Czech railways. The security technology is considered out of date in many places. Only a year ago two trains collided head-on in the Ore Mountains near the German border.
The government in Prague then wanted to modernize the signaling technology comprehensively.
But the modern European train control system ETCS is not expected to be installed on all main lines until 2025.
As important as that is, if people make mistakes, as in the most recent case, even the most modern signaling system will not be able to prevent accidents.
Read the full story here: Railway inspection checks why the train driver did not stop at the stop signal
3.
Who is the man who got champagne in the editorial office?
I was once told that the locations in the morning or even this location in the evening should allow a peek through the keyhole from time to time - so show you, dear readers, how things go in our editorial office. This is currently difficult, because home office-related does not have one keyhole in the conference room, but maybe a hundred or more that you would currently have to peek through. You won't want that at all. So I'm going to chat frankly and freely with a few internal issues from yesterday's conference, held via video - still. On Tuesdays, we always give away a bottle of exquisite sparkling wine. For particularly successful graphics, the video of the week, the outstanding text. Yesterday the champagne was won by my colleagues from the sports department, Thilo Neumann and Sonja Och,together with the team from the layout. Thilo for his famous text about the wrestler Frank Stäbler, Sonja for the accompanying photos.
In a sense, that was a stroke of luck.
Because when the champagne was awarded by the editor-in-chief yesterday morning, it was not yet certain that Stäbler would win the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo shortly afterwards.
Ringer on fire: Frank Stäbler after his brilliant triumph in Tokyo
Photo: © Ivan Milutinovic / Reuters / REUTERS
Thilo's text is exactly about it: How Stäbler, who comes from a small Swabian village (very personable!), After countless setbacks in his long career, worked doggedly towards the Olympics in order to win another medal.
I have to admit, I was more fascinated by the Olympic victory of the German long jumper Mailaika Mihambo (when I talked about rings so far, I only thought of the five of the Olympic symbol ...), but after reading Thilo's story and then Having seen Stäbler after winning his bronze medal, I was no less touched.
Read more about Frank Stäbler here:
"I have to go through hell"
Ringer Stäbler won bronze at the end of his career
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What else is important today
Every minute a new truck with rubbish:
The huge amounts of rubbish from the devastated villages in the Ahr valley are causing increasing problems.
The companies cannot keep up with the sorting.
Timanowskaja travels to Poland via Vienna:
After critical statements against sports officials, the Belarusian sprinter Kristina Timanowskaja was supposed to be kidnapped.
Now she is granted asylum in Poland - and changed flights at the last minute.
Lost in Brandenburg:
Annalena Baerbock shone on her visit to Brandenburg's forests with a lack of local knowledge.
Small consolation: politicians have often lost their bearings.
A collection.
The German forest is dwindling faster and faster:
The amount of damaged wood in German forests is increasing dramatically.
Insects like the bark beetle benefit from the climate crisis - and destroy entire forest areas.
Louis van Gaal is back - and will be Bondscoach for the third time:
he ended his coaching career in 2017, now the general is back: Louis van Gaal will coach the Netherlands at the age of 69.
He led Elftal to the World Cup semi-finals in 2014.
My favorite story today: Cooking without coal -
Not only today, but every time my colleague Sebastian Maas publishes his column “Cooking without Coal”, the text is one of my favorite stories of that day.
Sebastian is a hobby cook, and he can humorously tell you which crash landings he has already landed in the kitchen and how he then makes the most of it.
In today's episode he describes how to prepare the original American dish "Grilled Cheese".
With a tomato soup.
Where other liveried hobby cooks contrive language and recommendations, Sebastian writes: "This goes best with silly sitcoms or Nickelodeon comics from the nineties." read.
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +
Shadow war of the unloved outsiders:
The conflict with Israel escalates, the nuclear talks in Vienna stall - at the same time Iran's new President Ebrahim Raisi takes office.
Middle East expert Sina Azodi explains the background in an interview.
Our inner cities should look so radically new:
The old concept of the city is dead: Even after Corona, Germany's pedestrian zones will no longer fill up.
Investors therefore have revolutionary plans - for more green and more event culture.
She will continue to work for her dream:
She was in a training camp for months, far away from the family, but Gesa Krause received nothing in Tokyo.
However, with the typical frizzy bite.
Giving up is not her way.
The hardest moment of childbirth - and how to overcome it:
At some point during childbirth, almost every woman comes to the point at which she, exhausted, wants to give up.
Here the midwife Agnes Maier explains why this is often a good moment - and how she then helps the pregnant woman.
Which is less important today
Bussi-Cat Gaga (r.), Bennett (l.): Together again at last
Photo: LUCY NICHOLSON / REUTERS
Radio Gaga:
It's an uneven pair, musically of course, not what you think! Lady Gaga reunites with Tony Bennett. She: 35, he: 95, but the 60 year age difference is completely irrelevant when you hear them both singing together. Of course, Lady Gaga is best known to those who appreciate her innovative pop songs like »Poker Face«, »Just dance« or »Paparazzi« as well as her eccentric costumes. But her true calling seems to be jazz singing. Already in 2014 she released the swing album "Cheek to cheek" together with the old master Croner Bennett, and whoever was allowed to experience the duo once felt the pleasure that Lady Gaga obviously had when interpreting jazz classics. The timbre in the voice, the many octaves that she managed effortlessly, the melting (not lard!),with whom she sang classics like »Lush life«. Now both have announced a new album with songs from the Great American Songbook by Cole Porter. It should appear on October 1st. That's nice, because overdue, and sad at the same time, because Bennett has Alzheimer's. It will be his last.
Typo of the day
, corrected in the meantime: Of course, he could not choose the location himself, because the Central Office for the Allocation of Study Places, or ZVS for short, decided on that.
Cartoon of the day:
Great climate
And tonight?
Enlarge image
Could you listen to one of our numerous podcasts again. For example in our most recent one, which we have christened »Climate Report« and which deals with the state of the planet. The current episode is about the flood disaster and the question of whether it will initiate a change of direction in the parties' climate policy. Kurt Stukenberg and Sebastian Spallek come to the conclusion that the floods in western Germany quickly became one of the most important election campaign issues - but nothing more. As soon as the first rubble was accessible, politicians took out their functional clothing and showed sympathy. After all, many elections have been won through natural disasters. However, the question arises:How important is the topic of climate really to politicians? The guest this episode is Melanie Amann, the head of the SPIEGEL capital office and member of the editor-in-chief. And Steffen Vogel from SPIEGEL TV, who was there during the flood disaster. You can listen to the podcast here.
Have a nice evening, see you tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Janko Tietz
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