Icon: enlarge
Vaccination with Pfizer Biontech dose in Jerusalem: "First clear indication that after vaccination one is neither infected nor contagious"
Photo: Maya Alleruzzo / AP
The SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach expressed the hope that herd immunity can be achieved with the vaccine from Pfizer and Biontech.
In an interview with the newspaper "Bild am Sonntag" Lauterbach refers to the results of a study by the Israeli Ministry of Health and Pfizer.
"These evaluations are of great importance. They are the first clear indication that you are not infected and not contagious after vaccination," he explains.
In this way, vaccination would actually enable herd immunity - "and enable a return to normal life".
According to data from the Israeli Ministry of Health, after two doses of Pfizer / Biontech's vaccine, the risk of developing a serious illness drops by 95.8 percent.
In 98 percent of the cases, the vaccine prevents fever and breathing problems, in 98.9 percent of the cases an infection with Sars-CoV-2 does not lead to hospitalization or death after vaccination.
The data are based on national surveys.
Israel, which has a population of around 9.3 million people, runs one of the most ambitious vaccination programs in the world.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expects 95 percent of citizens over the age of 50 to be vaccinated in two weeks.
Against this background, schools and many shops are allowed to reopen from this Sunday.
Icon: The mirror
pad / Reuters / dpa