"Unfortunately, the vaccination doesn't matter when it comes to the dynamics of the infection" - virologist Brinkmann on the omicron wave

Created: 01/14/2022, 16:43

By: Caroline Schäfer

In a ZDF program, virologist Melanie Brinkmann considers the many unvaccinated people to be a problem.

(Archive image) © Thomas Trutschel/photothek.de/imago

Virologist Melanie Brinkmann is concerned about the current corona situation in Germany.

She finds the large number of unvaccinated people particularly problematic.

Kassel – The pandemic situation in Germany remains dynamic: The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported more than 90,000 new corona infections* on Friday (01/14/2022).

The nationwide incidence skyrocketed to 470.6.

The omicron variant* now dominates the infection process in Germany.

According to the RKI, the mutant is responsible for 73.3 percent of all infections.

Hope now lies, among other things, in the progress of the booster vaccinations.

The RKI data shows that 38.2 million people have now received a booster vaccination.

"The boost helps a lot again," emphasized Melanie Brinkmann, deputy virologist of the Federal Government's Expert Council from the Helmholtz Center, on Thursday evening (January 13, 2022) on the ZDF program Maybrit Illner.

Corona situation in Germany: still many unvaccinated

But she gave this hope a damper: “Unfortunately, the vaccination doesn’t matter when it comes to the dynamics of the infection,” Brinkmann added.

Although all three corona vaccinations greatly reduce the risk of suffering a severe course of Covid, the vaccines at Omikron do not work as well as the Delta variant.

According to the virologist, the many unvaccinated people in this country are still problematic.

The number of German corona patients in intensive care units is currently declining despite the increasing number of cases.

"But that correlates very strongly with the vaccination rate," says Brinkmann.

Countries with higher vaccination rates such as Spain with 80.5 percent have a significantly lower hospitalization rate compared to Germany.

The virologist once again pointed out that Covid-19 is not flu, but a “really serious illness”.

Even if the omicron variant causes a supposedly milder course.

"Nature is cruel," she warned.

Corona in Germany: soon more than 200,000 new infections per day?

Science journalist and physicist Ranga Yogeshwar, who was also a guest on the ZDF show, hinted at a bleak prognosis.

In three to four weeks, record values ​​​​of more than 200,000 new infections per day would come to Germany due to the omicron wave.

Several cities and districts in Germany now have corona incidences of over 1000.

One of the corona hotspots is Bremen.

(kas)