Virologist Ciesek recognizes a new dimension in Omikron: "We haven't seen that before"

Created: 12/23/2021, 09:21 AM

By: Luisa Billmayer

The Frankfurt virologist Sandra Ciesek analyzed the Omikron situation shortly before Christmas.

© Jürgen Heinrich / Imago

What does Omikron mean for the Christmas holidays?

Virologist Sandra Ciesek sees a paradox between political measures and scientific advice.

"It's just such an incredibly fast speed, we haven't seen that before in the pandemic," said virologist Sandra Ciesek about the spread of the Omikron variant in the NDR info podcast.

It is astonishing that the existence of the new Corona variant has only been known for three weeks and "now we have several countries where this variant is dominant," said Ciesek in the latest episode (No. 106, December 21, 2021) of the podcast "Coronavirus Update".

In this situation, every day counts, according to the virologist.

Ciesek on Omikron: "We haven't seen that before"

Above all, the expert sees the problem that people who have been vaccinated or recovered - that is, have some freedom with the 2G rule - are not adequately protected against Omikron.

"The more cases of Omikron we will have in relation, the less the 2G rule will really benefit us," Ciesek clarified.

A booster vaccination reduces the risk of getting seriously ill with corona.

Unfortunately, even Ciesek cannot give a guarantee.

"Even a booster is not 100 percent protection," says the virologist.

"At some point we will probably all meet this virus."

Video: Answers to the Top Omikron Questions

“So far, the most likely value is: 70 to 80 percent protection against symptomatic infection.

But without a booster, the protection is too weak.

We must therefore run an offensive booster campaign and tighten the measures to reduce contact, ”wrote Health Minister Karl Lauterbach on Sunday (December 19) on Twitter.

Ciesek in the NDR podcast: Virologist gives holiday recommendation

With a view to the holidays, Ciesek still has recommendations: "I think it's important to really check which contacts are essential, which ones I can do without." The virologist also takes a critical view of travel.

In her opinion, it is appropriate to “shift down a few gears” over the holidays to help ensure that Omikron spreads more slowly.

Ciesek also sees a problematic paradox in which the health authorities and politics are.

From a health policy perspective, preventive measures should be taken before the situation worsens.

But that is exactly what is legally difficult, because further restrictions can only be justified in court if the corona situation has already changed - for example, the number of cases has already increased.

"How this can be resolved is so far personally unclear to me," is Ciesek's conclusion.

The virologist therefore recommends restricting yourself or doing without some things, even if politicians have not yet reacted.