Corona: Who needs a second booster vaccination now?
Experts disagree
Created: 07/12/2022Updated: 07/12/2022 17:41
By: Stella Henrich
The RKI and the Stiko advocate a second booster vaccination, another expert opposes this.
Millions of people in Germany are still unvaccinated.
Munich – Around 7.3 million adults under the age of 60 and 1.9 million over the age of 60 have not yet been vaccinated in this country.
This is reported by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in its latest monthly report on Covid 19 vaccinations.
(Monitoring from July 7, 2022)
The RKI strongly recommends that those who have not been vaccinated should immediately take care of their first corona vaccination.
Because the omicron variant is also associated with a severe course of the disease.
Omikron is now one of the dominant variants in Germany.
Corona in autumn: Second booster vaccination for vaccinated people
The Standing Vaccination Committee (Stiko) recommends that some groups should now seek a second booster vaccination in order to be adequately prepared for a possible fall wave.
According to the experts, booster vaccinations are highly effective in avoiding having to go to the hospital due to corona disease.
A second booster vaccination is recommended for the following people:
people with weakened immune systems
nursing home residents
people over 70 years of age
employees of medical institutions
New RKI monthly report raises the alarm: maximum values for hospital admissions among unvaccinated people
The data in the RKI monthly report shows that the "incidence of hospital admissions due to Covid-19 has generally decreased during the omicron wave".
However, it had recently been highest in unvaccinated people in all age groups.
According to the RKI, for a period of several weeks (April and May 2022) for non-vaccinated people, the risk of being treated in a hospital for Covid-19 is almost sevenfold for 12 to 17 year olds and almost seven for 18 to 59 year olds increased four-fold and nine-fold in people over 60.
EU recommendation: Second corona booster vaccination for everyone over 60 years of age
The EU health authority ECDC and the EU drug authority EMA went one step further than the Stiko on Monday.
The two authorities called on the member states of the European Union to act.
also read
Immediate second booster for everyone over 60?
Virologist Stöhr counters EU recommendation: "Doesn't make sense"
Miniatur Wunderland gives employees half a million euros
EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides also said that all EU countries should "immediately offer second booster vaccinations" for people over 60 and other particularly vulnerable people.
"There's no time to lose," she added.
So far, Stiko has only recommended a second booster vaccination against the corona virus for certain groups.
© Daniel Karmann/dpa
Corona in autumn: virologist advises to wait with the boosters
However, Klaus Stöhr has a different opinion on the second booster vaccination.
In an interview with the
Neue
Osnabrücker Zeitung
, the virologist and former director of the World Health Organization (WHO) comes to a different conclusion than the Stiko.
Stöhr spoke out clearly against a second booster.
Its effect will have largely evaporated in the fall, says the doctor.
If Stöhr has his way, the renewed booster vaccination is not immediately necessary for everyone over 60 years of age.
Instead, the virologist recommends that all people up to the age of 70 without previous illnesses wait until autumn with the second booster.