Omikron variant arrived in Franconia: this is how clinics and health authorities arm themselves

Created: 12/18/2021, 09:08 AM

The Omikron variant continues to spread in Germany.

(Symbol picture) © Marijan Murat / dpa

The new Corona variant Omikron is slowly spreading in Upper and Middle Franconia.

Authorities and clinics are doing everything they can to contain them.

Nuremberg - The Omikron variant of the coronavirus * has now also arrived in Franconia.

Infections have been detected in Nuremberg, Fürth, Erlangen and Bayreuth, and the Forchheim district is also affected.

Nuremberg: Special team for Omikron cases in action

As the BR reports, the health department in Nuremberg * has set up a special team for hotspots that also takes care of Omikron cases. It evaluates the results of the current PCR tests every day and acts accordingly, explains Ulrike Goeken-Haidl, spokeswoman for the health department. She advises all citizens to limit their social contacts - this also applies to those who have been vaccinated. So the Omikron variant could spread less quickly. 

The vaccinations themselves are still very important.

Goeken-Haidl regrets that the number of first vaccinations is currently falling significantly.

In the meantime, the city of Nuremberg has increased its vaccination capacities.

Four vaccination sites are currently available.

Children could also get vaccinated there and then take a small present home with them.

Every day around 3,000 people can be given the protective spades.

(By the way: our Nuremberg newsletter regularly informs you about all the important stories from the Franconian metropolis. Register here.)

Returning travelers infected with a new variant - older ones now have to be boosted

So far, three people in Nuremberg and Fürth have been shown to have been infected with Omikron. All are vaccinated and currently doing well, says Goeken-Haidl to the BR. There are two confirmed cases in the Forchheim district, one each in Erlangen and Erlangen-Höchstadt. The authorities there report that they are all returnees. Those affected are currently in a 14-day quarantine.

Professor Klaus Überla, head of the Virological Institute at the University Hospital Erlangen *, is concerned about the rapid spread of Omikron, as the new variant is much more contagious.

In addition, it has been shown that the current vaccines protect against Omikron less well.

This means that vaccinated people could spread the variant again more often - without showing symptoms themselves.

Older people in particular should now have a booster vaccination as soon as possible.

“Their risk of ending up in an intensive care unit is much higher than with the younger ones,” the BR quotes the professor.

Think globally when planning your vaccination 

When vaccinating, you shouldn't just keep an eye on Europe, but plan globally, the doctor demands.

Otherwise, Western countries would always be confronted with new variants.

There are certainly international efforts to increase the vaccination quota worldwide.

However, they would be held back by national interests.

Countries in which the average age is comparatively high would be hit particularly hard by the pandemic, as people there are more often seriously ill.

Countries with a younger population are often less affected.

Nevertheless, new variants could also appear there if too few people are vaccinated.