Vaccinations against corona and flu can now take place on an appointment following a recommendation by the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko). It is advisable from October onwards. The prerequisite is that the influenza vaccine is a dead vaccine. Inactivated vaccines contain inactivated viruses or components of the viruses. According to the Robert Koch Institute, the influenza vaccines approved in Germany for children and adults are mostly such preparations.
Vaccination reactions could occur more frequently with simultaneous vaccinations than with separate administration, it said. However, extensive experience with non-Covid 19 vaccines has shown that the immune response and side effects are generally similar to those of a solo dose. According to the Stiko, there are no published results for Germany on the simultaneous use of approved corona vaccines and other dead vaccines. However, unpublished data from the UK showed only a slightly increased body reaction when using Covid-19 and influenza vaccines at the same time.
So far, the Stiko has not advocated a general corona booster vaccination for seniors – although older people can already get this in Germany. However, a booster dose with an mRNA vaccine is recommended for people with immunodeficiency. The Stiko is currently working on the study situation for a booster vaccination of other population groups. A decision should be made in the coming weeks. The Stiko is more cautious with its recommendation than the Conference of Health Ministers. At the beginning of August, she decided that a booster could be used from the age of 60 – at the earliest six months after the full vaccination and after “individual consideration, medical advice and decision”. (9/24/21)
Majority against the lifting of all corona measures
According to an online survey by the Yougov opinion research institute on behalf of the German Press Agency, the majority of Germans are against a quick end to all corona requirements. 61 percent of the respondents spoke out against an immediate lifting of all restrictions. On the other hand, 33 percent would be in favor.
“In Germany around 62 percent of people were recently fully vaccinated,” was the question. “Should all restrictions to combat the corona pandemic be lifted in Germany now?” 33 percent categorically rejected this, 28 percent answered “rather no”. 19 percent are in favor of repeal, 14 percent voted “rather yes”. The strongest opposition to an immediate end to all restrictions was found in the elderly.
According to the Federal Ministry of Health in Germany, almost 64 percent of people are now completely vaccinated against the corona virus. Denmark recently lifted all corona restrictions with a vaccination rate of 83 percent.
The head of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, Andreas Gassen, has called for an end to all corona restrictions by October 30th. The federal government rejected this. “The debate about dropping all measures completely ignores the concerns of the population groups who cannot be vaccinated, and that is especially all children under the age of twelve,” said the Federal Managing Director of the Child Protection Association, Daniel Grein, of the editorial network Germany (RND). “In any case, the concerns of children received too little attention in the pandemic.” The current debate joins this experience. He judged a “Freedom Day” to be too risky. “The long-term consequences of Covid disease – especially in children – are not yet known. That is why it is cynical to want to expose children to this risk in an uncontrolled manner.” (09/24/2021)
Côte d’Azur no longer on the list of corona risk areas
From Sunday on, with the exception of some overseas territories, France will no longer be listed as a corona high-risk area by the federal government. As the last French region in Europe, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur area, which is popular with tourists, will be removed from the risk list, as the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Friday. This means that all quarantine rules for travelers from this region no longer apply.
The EU country Slovenia, on the other hand, is now classified as a high-risk area. Anyone who has not been fully vaccinated or has recovered and is traveling from there must be quarantined for ten days from Sunday. An exemption is only possible after five days with a negative test. Slovenia currently holds the Council Presidency of the European Union and is hosting a Western Balkan Summit at the beginning of October, in which Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) will also take part. As of Sunday, the small Balkan country will be the only EU member that is classified as a high-risk area.
Other new high-risk areas are Ethiopia and Burundi in Africa and St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean. Japan and the West African Senegal are also removed from the risk list.
Countries and regions with a particularly high risk of infection are classified as high-risk areas. But not only the infection numbers are decisive for this. Other criteria are the speed at which the virus is spreading, the burden on the health system or a lack of data on the corona situation. (09/24/21)
Stiko only advises high-risk patients to have a booster vaccination
The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) initially only recommends booster vaccinations for high-risk patients. The review of the available scientific data has been completed, said Stiko chairman Thomas Mertens. The commission recommends booster vaccinations for people with immune deficiencies or diseases in which the immune system is regulated by medication, for example in rheumatism or cancer patients or after a transplant. The Stiko does not yet want to make a general recommendation for a booster vaccination for the elderly.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) also wants to decide soon on booster vaccinations with the Covid-19 vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer. A representative of the authority says that the deliberations on this should be concluded around the beginning of October. The EMA started the review at the beginning of September and stated that it would come to a result in the coming weeks. In the US, the FDA approved on Wednesday for booster vaccinations with the Biontech / Pfizer vaccine for people aged 65 and over and certain high-risk groups.
The EMA also stated that the Biontech / Pfizer vaccine for children could be approved later this year. They have not yet received an application for the extension of the permit for children under twelve, but it is expected for the beginning of October. The evaluation of the approval application should then take around four weeks. At the beginning of the week, Biontech and Pfizer presented results from the study with the vaccine for use in five to eleven year olds and stated that they would now like to apply for approval for this age group as soon as possible. (23.09.2021)
RKI reports lower incidence again
The seven-day incidence in Germany has fallen again. The Robert Koch Institute reports 9727 new positive tests. That is 1295 fewer than on Thursday a week ago, when 11 022 new infections were reported. The seven-day incidence continues to fall to 62.5 from 63.1 the previous day. The value indicates how many people per 100,000 inhabitants have contracted the coronavirus in the past seven days. 65 other people died related to the virus. This increases the number of reported deaths to 93,303 within 24 hours. In total, more than 4.18 million corona tests have so far been positive in Germany. (24.09.2021)
US FDA approves booster vaccinations for the elderly
In the US, the drug agency allows the introduction of booster doses of the vaccine from Pfizer and Biontech. The third vaccination must be given at least six months after the second dose and is for people over 65 years of age or high-risk Americans, a spokesman for the agency said. The US epidemic agency CDC has yet to vote on the decision. (23.09.2021)
DGB against loss of earnings for unvaccinated people in quarantine
The German Trade Union Federation (DGB) sharply criticizes the new quarantine rules for unvaccinated workers decided by the health ministers of the federal states. “It cannot be that politics simply dump responsibility for the fight against the pandemic on the employees,” said DGB boss Reiner Hoffmann to the editorial network Germany. An end to compensation for unvaccinated persons would also mean that employees would have to disclose their vaccination status to their employer.
Hoffmann said one of the major achievements of the labor movement was that employers learned as little as absolutely necessary about workers’ health decisions. By November 1 at the latest, unvaccinated workers should no longer receive any compensation in the case of quarantine. (23.09.2021)
No more compensation for unvaccinated people in quarantine
By November 1 at the latest, most non-vaccinated persons should no longer receive compensation in the event of loss of earnings due to the ordered corona quarantine. The majority of the federal and state health ministers agreed on this in a resolution on Wednesday, reports the German Press Agency. Bremen and Thuringia abstained from voting. It only affects people for whom there is a vaccination recommendation and who can also be vaccinated.
The ministers’ deliberations were about a nationwide uniform line. The first countries had already decided for themselves that non-vaccinated people should soon no longer be entitled to compensation. The Federal Infection Protection Act already provides for this if segregation could have been avoided by taking a recommended vaccination. Since there is now enough vaccine available, this should now be implemented. The states themselves regulate the details.
In principle, employees who have to stay at home due to a quarantine order are entitled to a full wage replacement from the state for the first six weeks, and 67 percent from the seventh week. Employees do not have to worry about anything and continue to receive their money directly from the employer, who has to have it reimbursed by the competent authority. Only from the seventh week onwards do employees have to apply for compensation themselves. This regulation should no longer apply from November 1 at the latest to non-vaccinated people for whom a vaccination recommendation has been made, if they have to be in quarantine as contact persons for corona infected people or as people returning from a risk area abroad and are not allowed to work. Quarantine orders generally do not apply to those who have been fully vaccinated.
The decision had been expected, there had been criticism in advance, including from the trade unions. DGB boss Hoffmann spoke in an interview with the RBB-Inforadio of a “compulsory vaccination through the back door”. Politicians are avoiding a clear decision and shift the conflict to the employees. Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn had defended the plans against it. “It’s not about pressure, by the way, but about fairness towards the vaccinated. Why should others pay for someone to decide not to be vaccinated?”, Said the CDU politician in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”. (22.09.2021)
Spahn expects the pandemic to end in spring
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) expects herd immunity to the corona virus by next spring and thus the end of the pandemic in Germany. “If no new virus variant emerges against which a vaccination does not protect, which is very unlikely, then we will have overcome the pandemic in the spring and can return to normal,” says the CDU minister Augsburger Allgemeine. Herd immunity is always achieved, the only question is whether through vaccination or infection. “The vaccination is definitely the safer way to get there,” said Spahn.