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Omicron variant of the coronavirus: "The pandemic is unlikely to restart"

2021-11-27T14:24:02.488Z


How dangerous is the new virus variant? Anyone who has been vaccinated twice or three times is probably also protected against Omikron, says an Astrazeneca developer.


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Vaccination center in Basel

Photo: Arnd Wiegmann / REUTERS

The virus variant Omikron, which originated in South Africa, has apparently also arrived in Germany.

"Nothing is worse than getting a particularly dangerous variant into a running wave," said the SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach in the ARD.

There is already a threat of a loss of control in some regions.

There is great concern that Omikron is now starting a kind of new pandemic in Europe.

Andrew Pollard, developer of the Astrazeneca vaccine against corona, does not assume that: "It is very unlikely that there will be a restart of the pandemic in a vaccinated population," said the immunologist from Oxford University in a BBC on Saturday. Interview.

Even if you have to wait a few weeks to get certain results, there is reason to hope that the vaccines against serious diseases will continue to work, said Pollard.

Last year, just before Christmas, the first clearly contagious alpha variant appeared in Great Britain and triggered a severe wave.

At that time, the corona vaccinations were only just beginning.

Quickly adapt vaccines to new variants

The omicron variant now discovered in southern Africa combines mutations that had already occurred in variants that were previously classified as worrying.

"Despite those mutations, the vaccines prevented serious illness as we moved from alpha, beta, and gamma to delta," said Pollard.

Together with other Oxford researchers and the pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca, he had developed a vaccine.

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Infected travelers from South Africa were isolated at the airport in Amsterdam

Photo: LAURENS BOSCH / EPA

In addition, the scientist was confident that the vaccines could be adapted to the new variant in a timely manner.

The omicron variant, which was initially detected in Botswana and South Africa, has now been classified as "worrying" by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The EU health authority ECDC speaks of serious concerns that the variant could significantly reduce the effectiveness of the corona vaccines and increase the risk of reinfections.

Germany is heading for lockdown

While tens of thousands of football fans flock to the stadiums in some German cities at the weekend, calls for lockdowns and mandatory vaccinations are getting louder.

"In parts of Germany with extremely high incidence numbers, it will not work without a lockdown," said Gerd Landsberg, chief executive of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, the dpa news agency.

"Our health system is reaching its limits, the number of infections is rising unchecked," says Landsberg.

Full football stadiums and major events sent a completely wrong signal.

The measures decided so far by the federal and state governments have evidently not been sufficient to effectively combat the pandemic.

"At the same time, we finally need a medium-term strategy so that Germany does not get into the endless loop of the pandemic," Landsberg continued.

"This includes, for example, the introduction of vaccination requirements, especially for job-specific groups in medical professions and in nursing."

fww / dpa

Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2021-11-27

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