PCR tests are becoming scarce - second vaccination at Johnson&Johnson

Created: 01/18/2022Updated: 01/18/2022 7:58 p.m

More PCR tests are currently being carried out in the laboratories than ever before.

© Uwe Anspach/dpa

Omicron is racing through the country - and now the PCR tests are threatening to become scarce.

At the same time, there are new vaccination records.

People who have only received a Johnson & Johnson vaccination are particularly affected.

Berlin - Due to the rapid spread of the omicron wave, the particularly safe PCR tests in Germany are in danger of becoming scarce.

"We will not have enough PCR tests," said Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) on Tuesday on Deutschlandfunk. However, an antigen test also works very well for free testing, for example when returning to school or work. At the same time, Lauterbach warned that a particularly contagious and particularly deadly corona variant could come.

"None of us can now rule out such a variant," said Lauterbach.

"If such a variant came, then the vaccination rate would have to be very high." Values ​​of 80 percent are clearly too low in such a case.

The federal government wanted to reach 80 percent of those who had been vaccinated for the first time by the end of January.

Currently it is only at least 75.1 percent.

Lauterbach reiterated that without general vaccination, in his opinion, it would not be possible to achieve a vaccination rate that would be necessary to be able to say: "We are living more or less like before."

PCR test at record level

In the meantime, more PCR tests have been carried out in the laboratories than ever before.

In the past week to Sunday, around 1.95 million PCR tests were carried out in specialist laboratories in Germany - more than ever before in the pandemic, according to the laboratory association ALM.

About every fourth test was positive.

The utilization of the laboratories was 86 percent.

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ALM Chairman Michael Müller advocated prioritizing PCR tests with limited capacity to avoid laboratory overload and again called for the consistent implementation of the national test strategy.

According to this, people with Covid 19 symptoms and contact persons of those who have been proven to be infected should have priority.

But the protection of people with particularly high corona risks, for example in the health care system, is also a priority.

Antigen tests for free testing

Lauterbach explained why, in his view, an antigen test is sufficient for a free test: For biological reasons, it does not work quite so well at the beginning of an infection, he said.

"But it works very well if you want to go back." Germany is very well equipped with antigen tests for this purpose.

Which corona test will be required at which point in the future will also be discussed at the next prime ministers’ conference next Monday, as Berlin’s governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) announced.

In the face of the omicron wave, Giffey is also pushing for new rules for contact tracing.

It must be clarified where this still makes sense so that health authorities can “work more focused” and be relieved.

Uniform nationwide regulations make sense.

Toggle between the evidence on the Alert app

There is news about vaccination or convalescence certificates and digital test certificates from the federal corona warning app.

In a new version, this is able to summarize valid vaccination or convalescence certificates as well as a digital test certificate in an overall status.

The operators of the app, SAP and Deutsche Telekom, announced this in a blog entry.

Four different combination displays are then displayed in the app: "2G", "2G+", "3G" and "3G+".

Users can switch between the QR code of the vaccination or recovery certificate and the code of the test certificate via a switch in order to provide 2G-plus proof quickly and easily.

"2G+" in the app means that people are fully vaccinated or recovered and also have a current negative test.

Also new for Johnson&Johnson vaccinates

The digital vaccination certificates are to be adapted in Germany by the beginning of next month to the latest EU requirements and to findings on the effectiveness of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The aim is to implement the European Union's requirement that vaccination certificates in the EU will only be valid for nine months after basic immunization, as a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Health said.

In the course of this, a change in the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson is to be implemented in Germany.

In Germany, one is only considered to have been vaccinated with complete basic protection if a second vaccination follows the Johnson & Johnson initial vaccination.

If possible, this should be done with an mRNA vaccine like that of Biontech/Pfizer or Moderna, as he confirmed.

Complete basic protection is required, for example, to comply with 2G access rules.

This change has been in effect since the weekend and should now be technically implemented, said the spokesman.

This step is intended to comply with a recommendation by the Standing Vaccination Commission.

dpa