The virologist Klaus Stöhr speaks about wrong activism, vaccination requirements and a renewed lockdown.
That children have to wear a mask in school is a scandal.
Munich - Professor Klaus Stöhr worked for the World Health Organization and the pharmaceutical manufacturer Novartis.
Today the 62-year-old is a freelance consultant and one of the most renowned virologists and vaccine experts.
In an interview with our newspaper, Stöhr analyzes the escalating corona situation and does not save with criticism of politics.
Fourth corona wave: Only politics apparently didn't know
Mr. Stöhr: The Corona crisis hits us harder than ever.
Are you surprised?
Prof. Klaus Stöhr:
No.
The great force of the fourth wave was to be expected.
We warned urgently in the summer that a bad winter was coming.
It remains incomprehensible why politicians did not prepare the country well for this.
What could or should politics have done?
Prof. Stöhr:
Topic one and two: boosting the elderly and vulnerable people as well as better vaccination rates for nursing staff!
It was already known in the summer that vaccination protection would decrease in autumn, especially for those over 60 years of age.
Older people who were vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine in the spring are now on average about 60 percent protected from a severe course.
In the case of younger people, on the other hand, the protective curve does not flatten out as quickly.
In this respect, Mr Söder's declaration of intent that everyone should urgently be boosted now misses the priorities.
Doesn't everyone who is better vaccinated contribute to the containment of Corona?
Prof. Stöhr:
Yes.
But after the sleepy summer there is too much time to get bogged down in resources, communication and logistics.
Only ten percent of the vulnerable are boosted.
Let me explain it with a picture: You have five children, three are healthy, one has a cold, one is terminally ill - which one would you take care of first?
To all of them at once or to the child who is particularly at risk first?
Corona vaccination: Politicians should touch this "hot potato" now
The politicians assert that the elderly and the sick, especially in nursing homes, are now better protected.
Prof. Stöhr:
That would be absolutely important: Last winter more than 40 percent of the deaths came from the small group of 950,000 residents of the old people's and nursing homes.
This must not be repeated.
In addition to the current vaccination protection for residents and nursing staff, monitored hygiene concepts including professional rapid tests are necessary for all visitors, including those who have been vaccinated.
Because there is still so much to do for politicians to protect the vulnerable, they should focus - also with a view to the many unvaccinated nurses.
Do you have to be vaccinated?
Prof. Stöhr:
In any case, politics must finally touch this hot potato for the care professions and take a closer look.
On the one hand, I am basically more in favor of information and persuasion than for pressure and coercion.
On the other hand, we don't have much time for big discussions now.
Now we need quick solutions.
Is politics overwhelmed?
Prof. Stöhr:
That shouldn't affect politics in a vacuum.
Personally, I would have consulted a group of experts in the summer - made up of home operators, sociologists, psychologists, epidemiologists and representatives of the health authorities.
You should work together quickly to develop a plan on how to increase the vaccination rate among caregivers.
One possibility would be a temporary compulsory vaccination only for the peak of the pandemic.
One thing is certain: things cannot go on as before.
Corona vaccinations less effective against Delta variant?
That's what the expert says
Many people are unsure about the booster vaccination.
The fear of a harmful over-vaccination is circulating.
Prof. Stöhr:
The third vaccination is as safe as the first two.
So far, there has only been one single hypothesis that an excessive amount of antibodies could be problematic - namely for young men under 30. In this group, there is a suspicion of an increased risk of heart muscle inflammation.
For older people, however, the following applies: The booster vaccination can significantly increase the protective effect again, even beyond the level immediately after the second vaccination.
Nevertheless, many vaccinated people feel insecure because of the number of vaccination breakthroughs.
Prof. Stöhr:
Feeling is the right word. According to the facts, vaccination is very effective in protecting against severe disease. However, it cannot prevent all infections. You can think of them like a seat belt in a car. It does not offer one hundred percent protection, but in most cases it mitigates the consequences of an accident. It is similar with vaccination: If you had died of corona without a vaccination, you can get away with a stay in a hospital. If you had had to go to the clinic without a vaccination, bed rest might be enough thanks to the vaccine. In addition: Vaccinated people protect their fellow human beings better - even in the event of a breakthrough in the vaccination. Because if they are contagious, they spread the virus much less frequently, for a shorter period of time and in smaller quantities than those who have not been vaccinated.
Is it possible that the vaccines against the Delta variant are not working as well?
Prof. Stöhr:
Delta is associated with stronger and longer virus excretion.
This has some influence on the spread of the virus, but so far not significantly on the effectiveness of the vaccines.
There will certainly have to be a vaccine adaptation in the future.
At present, however, there are no new variants that have the potential to become regionally or globally dominant and which would require vaccine adjustments soon.
Corona: new lockdown makes sense?
Virologist explains why school rules are absurd
Is a new lockdown necessary - and does it make sense?
Prof. Stöhr:
The AHA rules will certainly remain with us for the winter.
If the situation continues to worsen dramatically on a regional basis, it may well be that local contact restrictions will again become necessary.
Here we are again with the inadequate preparation.
Politicians could have worked out a step-by-step plan for such a situation agreed between the federal states in the summer, with precise limit values for emergencies in the intensive care units and step-by-step measures up to 1G - i.e. a vaccination as a prerequisite for participation in everyday life.
Do the protective measures also have to be tightened again in schools and kindergartens?
Prof. Stöhr:
No. We have to face reality: Kindergarten and elementary school children are more likely to be infected with their parents and other adults than the other way around. In addition, there is a very high probability that there will be no vaccination recommendation for children under the age of twelve. According to the available data, the risk of vaccination is higher than that of infection. The Standing Vaccination Commission will make a final assessment when a children's vaccine is also approved in Europe by the beginning of 2022. More masks and distance rules in schools and kindergartens do not help to increase protection and the vaccination rate for caregivers and those over 60. But that is exactly the key. In addition: with regard to the risk potential, upper levels of schools and many work areas are comparable, but are treated differently in the tests.All in all, I don't understand why, not only in Bavaria, people always look at the children first when the intensive care units are full. It seems as effective to me as if you were to inflate the rear tire with a flat tire on the front of the bike.
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The virologist and epidemiologist Professor Dr.
Among other things, Klaus Stöhr has headed the SARS research program of the World Health Organization.
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Corona infections prevented by FFP2 masks?
The opposite seems to be the case
Keyword new FFP2 mask requirement: Is FFP2 really that important?
Prof. Stöhr:
Medical masks are important.
When it comes to FFP2 masks, the knowledge and experience of the best medical societies are consistently ignored, which seems to have a tradition in the Bavarian state government during the pandemic.
FFP2 masks are counterproductive for the general population.
But other experts see it very differently.
Prof. Stöhr:
Possible.
But the experts of the German Society for Hospital Hygiene are very clear in their statements: FFP2 masks are not an option for the general population.
They produce more infections, generate more transmissions than the normal medical mask.
Among other things, because they rarely sit really tight.
If you walk through Munich, you will see that not many people know that FFP2 masks come in four different sizes and that each has to be adapted to the face.
Tightly fitting FFP2 masks also require increased work of breathing, which cannot be performed by the elderly or people with respiratory diseases.
In most cases, therefore, they do not offer better protection than medical masks.
Interview: Andreas Beez
