Fourth corona vaccination?

Virologist names condition for second booster

Created: 01/12/2022, 05:25 PM

From: Tobias Utz

Ulf Dittmer, virologist at the Essen University Hospital.

© Bernd Thissen / dpa

Will the second booster vaccination come in spring or summer?

For a virologist, this is tied to a crucial condition.

Frankfurt - At the moment, people in Germany are being asked to get boosted.

According to data from the Federal Ministry of Health, 36.8 million citizens have responded to this call so far, which corresponds to 44.2 percent of the population.

The health ministers of the federal states are already debating the fourth corona vaccination *.

One virologist apparently thinks little of it: Ulf Dittmer, chief virologist at the Essen University Hospital.

In his opinion, a second booster vaccination only makes sense if there are “Corona vaccines adapted to Omikron *”.

He said that in the videocast of "19 - the chief visit".

Fourth corona vaccination?

Virologist names crucial condition

The manufacturers Biontech / Pfizer * and Moderna * are already researching such corona vaccines.

According to the latest information from the companies, vaccines could hit the market as early as March.

However, this would probably require accelerated examination procedures.

Vaccination with the Omikron vaccine could protect risk groups in particular in the coming winter, said Dittmer in an interview.

The advantage of Omikron, however, is that the variant will probably lead to less severe Covid-19 courses, emphasized the virologist. This was also recently confirmed by virologist Christian Drosten from the Charité Berlin. * According to Dittmer, this is mainly due to the fact that the omicron viruses often settle deep in the lungs. It was different with the Delta variant: "Delta was an absolutely deadly virus," emphasized Dittmer. Last year, the vaccinations were responsible for the fact that there were no “piles of corpses” in Germany.

However, the omicron mutation * is considered to be significantly more infectious compared to other corona variants.

According to the researcher, there is currently no “all-clear” to be given.

You have to expect "that a lot of people will be infected".

Even those who are boosted are not one hundred percent protected from the Omikron variant.

“The booster continues to provide excellent protection against any kind of Covid-19 disease.

But it only protects against the infection itself to a very limited extent with Omikron, ”said the chief virologist at the Essen University Hospital.

According to a new study, a booster combination of vaccines protects particularly well. * (Tu)