The disappointing study results for the vaccine from the German company Curevac have also been confirmed after a final analysis. Accordingly, the vaccine showed an effectiveness of 48 percent against Covid disease of any severity and in all age groups, as the Tübingen-based company announced. In an interim analysis two weeks ago, it was 47 percent. In the final evaluation, however, according to Curevac, a “significant protective effect” of the vaccine was observed in study participants between 18 and 60 years of age. However, they are less at risk of infection than older people.
In this age group, an effectiveness of 53 percent against a disease of any severity and of 77 percent against moderate and severe disease was observed. The vaccinated study participants at this age were fully protected from hospitalization or death – there were six cases in the group that received a placebo. For study participants over 60 years of age, who represented nine percent of the cases examined, no statistically unambiguous determination of the effectiveness was possible.
In the final analysis, a total of 228 Covid cases were examined, 83 of them in the vaccine group. In the age group from 18 to 60 years, the variant-dependent effectiveness ranged from about 42 to 67 percent. 15 virus variants were observed in the evaluation, the original virus strain, on the other hand, hardly ever occurred. A total of 40,000 subjects in ten countries in Latin America and Europe took part in the study.
Curevac stated that it is in an ongoing exchange with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the continuation of the approval process for the vaccine. The company’s vaccine is not included in the plans of the Federal Ministry of Health for 2022. Curevac CEO Franz-Werner Haas was nevertheless confident: “We believe that this efficacy profile makes an important contribution to overcoming the Covid 19 pandemic and dealing with the dynamic spread of the virus variants.” However, he himself had recently said that Curevac had to be 50 percent effective for an application for approval. (06/30/2021)
Travel warning lifted for over 80 risk countries
After more than a year of the corona pandemic, the advises Federal government As of tomorrow, Thursday, there will no longer be any more fundamentally off tourist trips abroad. The travel warning for the more than 80 countries classified as corona risk areas in whole or in part will also be lifted. These include all of Turkey as well as holiday areas in Spain and Croatia.
The decision to restructure the travel advice was made almost three weeks ago, the step is explosive because of the rapid expansion of the delta variant. The responsible foreign minister, Heiko Maas, defends him. “The time of blanket assessments must be over,” said the SPD politician on Tuesday. “Where there are positive developments, there is no reason to maintain restrictions.” At the beginning of the pandemic on March 17, 2020, Maas issued a worldwide travel warning for tourists. The background was that at that time many vacationers were stranded and had to be brought back to Germany in an unprecedented show of strength because their flights had been canceled.
In September, the warning was then limited to corona risk areas with a new infection rate of more than 50 per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days (7-day incidence). But even for all countries not classified as risk areas, the federal government continued to advise against vacation travel until Wednesday. Not anymore. From Thursday on there will be in the travel advice of the Federal Foreign Office three categories of countries.
The Travel warning only applies from an incidence of 200 (high incidence areas) and for areas in which dangerous virus variants have spread widely (virus variant areas). That is only 40 of a total of around 200 countries worldwide. In Europe there are no longer any high incidence areas, only Great Britain and Portugal are currently classified as virus variant areas. A travel warning from the Federal Foreign Office is primarily intended to have a deterrent effect. Before Corona, it was only pronounced for war and crisis areas. However, the practical effects are limited. Above all, the travel warning enables holidaymakers to cancel bookings free of charge.
The following rule applies to the 26 EU countries except Germany, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland: If they are no longer classified as a risk area, the Federal Foreign Office’s travel advice will only contain “um.” special caution asked “. This affects 26 countries. Exceptions are individual regions in Spain, Ireland, Croatia and Sweden.
There is a long way between these two categories more than 100 other countries outside the EUthat are either risk areas or are considered “risk free”. If there are entry restrictions or quarantine obligations after entry, the Federal Foreign Office advises against traveling there. Insofar as all entry obstacles have been lifted in one of these so-called third countries, only the advice of special caution applies. (06/30/2021)
Laschet: New school year without a mask requirement
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) is in favor of schoolchildren being able to return to schools after the summer vacation without masks. The prerequisite for this is that the corona incidence values remain low. In the WDR, the Union’s candidate for chancellor said: “After the holidays we observe the situation of those returning from traveling, and if we can get a grip on the fact that the incidences are not particularly high, then one can take off the masks in class again. The main goal must be be: One must not be the first to close the schools again. “
Laschet can also imagine a start of the Bundesliga with spectators if the incidences remain stable at the current level. Due to the ongoing vaccinations, a possible new wave of pandemics in autumn would be completely different from last year, the Prime Minister continued. He rejects an extension of the home office requirement. Farms would have to decide according to their respective needs; the legislature should not centrally impose such an obligation given the currently low incidences. In many companies it is important that people meet in the workplace. (06/30/2021)
RKI reports a further decrease in the incidence value
The health authorities in Germany reported 808 new corona infections to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) within one day. This is evident from the figures from Wednesday morning, which reflect the status of the RKI dashboard at 4:12 a.m. For comparison: a week ago the value was 1016 infections. The RKI gave the seven-day incidence nationwide as 5.2 (previous day: 5.4; previous week: 7.2).
According to this information, 56 deaths were recorded across Germany within 24 hours. A week ago there were 51 dead. The RKI has counted 3,728,141 detected infections with Sars-CoV-2 since the beginning of the pandemic. The actual total number is likely to be significantly higher, as many infections are not detected.
The RKI stated the number of those who had recovered at 3,624,200. The number of people who died with or with a proven infection with Sars-CoV-2 rose to 90,875.
According to the RKI, the seven-day R-value on Tuesday evening was 0.79 (previous day: 0.79). This means that 100 infected people theoretically infect 79 more people. The R-value represents the occurrence of the infection 8 to 16 days ago. If it is below 1 for a longer period of time, the infection process subsides; if it is consistently higher, the number of cases increases. (06/30/2021)
Number of patients with post-Covid syndrome is increasing
Thousands of patients in Germany suffer from long-term consequences after a Covid 19 disease. At the second largest German health insurance company alone, Barmer, more than 2900 insured persons were affected by long or post-Covid between November 2020 and March 2021, as an analysis of insured data from the health insurance company shows, which is available to the German Press Agency in Berlin.
Ursula Marschall, Senior Medical Officer at Barmer, assumes that many people affected are not aware that they are suffering from Long Covid because of the inconsistent symptoms. Marschall emphasized that it is not always easy to see when the acute viral infection will stop and the long-term consequences will begin. Post-Covid has only been officially coded as a disease in the doctors’ billing system since January 2021.
Of the Barmer policyholders who were initially on sick leave from January to March 2021 due to Corona, at least 6.3 percent were subsequently unable to work due to post-Covid. According to the Barmer survey, post-Covid syndromes occur more frequently in women than in men. (06/30/2021)
Hamburg allows dancing again – outdoors subject to conditions
The Hamburg Senate has allowed dancing in the open air again from Friday – under strict conditions. Since the beginning of summer, thousands of young people have had illegal parties in parks. Now the Senate has given in. The condition is that all visitors tested negative, fully vaccinated or recovered, said the First Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD). Dancing is only allowed on a demarcated area on which a maximum of 250 people are allowed to celebrate without a mask.
Over the past weekends, the police had evacuated the city park, where thousands of young people celebrated, several times for violating the Corona requirements and noise protection. The German Police Union (DPolG) then campaigned for a relaxation of the dance ban. The Senate is now reacting to the riots with an alcohol ban, which will apply in the city park from 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, Tschentscher said. Police officers had previously been molested and bottles thrown at nightfall. The aggressive park visitors would also have ignited pyrotechnics.
Hamburg banned the so-called dance pleasures in mid-March last year. The ban remained in place last summer when the incidence temporarily fell below 1.0. The number of new infections within seven days is currently 9.8, as the health authority announced. The Senate also decided to allow sporting events with spectator placement in a checkerboard pattern, i.e. with half the capacity. Indoor sports can take place with one person per ten square meters. The validity of rapid antigen tests is extended from 24 to 48 hours. A quick test is now also sufficient for cruises. (29.06.2021)