Robert Koch Institute
RKI classifies the corona risk for unvaccinated people as “very high”
RKI President Lothar H. Wieler during a press conference in Berlin. Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The corona situation in Germany has recently deteriorated. The RKI is now adapting its risk assessment: “Very high” is now for the unvaccinated. But there was also a change regarding the vaccinated.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) sees the corona pandemic as an increased health risk for people in Germany.
For incompletely or not vaccinated people, the institute changed the risk assessment from “high” to “very high”, as can be seen from the institute’s weekly report from Thursday evening. “For fully vaccinated people, the risk is assessed as moderate, but increasing due to the increasing number of infections,” it said. A week ago, the risk for vaccinated people was only described as “moderate” in the report.
However, the RKI further emphasizes that all vaccines available in this country “according to the current state of knowledge, with full vaccination effectively protect against serious illness”. Among the reported cases – that is, among the people who tested positive for Sars-CoV-2 – the proportion of people who were completely vaccinated has increased significantly in recent weeks. It is now over 60 percent in the age group of people 60 and over. “However, this proportion must be interpreted in conjunction with the high vaccination rate achieved in this age group,” it said – according to statistics, it is over 85 percent.
Development “very worrying”
The current development of the situation is “very worrying,” writes the RKI. If measures such as masks, spacing, reducing contacts and ventilation do not quickly reduce the number of infections, a further increase in serious illnesses and deaths is to be feared. According to the report, the treatment capacities of the intensive care units could also be exceeded in this case.
In the past few weeks there has already been a significant increase in the number of Covid 19 patients in intensive care units. From October 27 to November 3, almost 460 sick people were added. According to the Divi Intensive Register from Thursday, a total of 2332 people are now being treated. According to the report, the highest risk of hospitalization is still in the over 80 age group.
The RKI continues to record very high seven-day incidences, particularly in children over the age of five and adolescents – vaccinations have so far only been possible from the age of 12. Values of more than 250 infections per 100,000 inhabitants within a week were recorded in 65 districts.
The RKI writes that because of the high infection pressure, it is also important for those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered to comply with the measures to protect against infection – “even at events or meetings under 3G and 2G conditions!” It is also about slowing down other pathogens.
Due to the recorded rate of acute respiratory infections in Germany, the RKI assumes that contacts in which the pathogens are transmitted will occur again as frequently as in the two winters before the pandemic. “This differs significantly from the same period in 2020,” it said.