The Corona rules are regularly adjusted. That’s when your head is spinning. Why was the recovered status shortened? How long am I considered fully vaccinated? And when is the next update coming? Answers to the most pressing questions.
In mid-January, the government shortened the convalescent status from six to three months – without informing the citizens in advance. As if that wasn’t surprising enough, it was also announced that this regulation should not apply to members of parliament. The action sparked criticism. Not least because it meant restrictions for many citizens practically overnight that nobody had expected.
The example shows: Under the new federal government, the chaotic crisis communication established by the predecessors is continuing. And that although the health policy spokesman for the Greens, Janosch Dahmen, in conversation with the star last week emphasized that the federal government had set out to pursue science-based politics. However, not all citizens are aware of how much science is behind the decisions.
The most pressing questions about the current situation at a glance:
Why was the recovered status shortened?
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) justifies the decision with the fact that “the scientific evidence to date indicates that unvaccinated people who have undergone an infection have reduced and temporally even more limited protection against renewed infection with the omicron virus compared to the Delta variant. have variant”. For this, the RKI relies on the one hand on the most recent vaccination recommendation of the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko). In December, this had recommended a refresher of the corona vaccination after the second peak. Stiko cited the highly infectious omicron variant as the reason.
In addition, the RKI is based on studies by the UK Health Agency. A report from the end of December 2021 According to them, vaccination against the new virus variant is less effective in protecting against a symptomatic or severe course than with the delta variant. The researchers write that the vaccination protection against a symptomatic course is significantly lower with Omikron than with Delta, but the vaccination helps more effectively against hospitalization.
A third study, on which the RKI relies, came up with similar results. Researchers at Imperial College London had compared the risk of hospitalization for disease with Delta and Omicron. The study shows: Protection against infection with the omicron variant is limited. However, the study does not reveal the exact period of time.
Due to the massive criticism of the decision, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit pointed out that the reduction of the convalescent status was “not a political decision”. It is “the scientific status that the RKI, which is responsible for this, has communicated and implemented”.
Why is there criticism of the decision?
The shortening to three months is a “political decision that is not comprehensible on the basis of the data,” says the immunologist Carsten Watzl. Critics also complain that the decision was primarily about getting more people to vaccinate.
The underlying data is also problematic. So far, no one can say exactly how many people have recovered from a corona infection. The reason: Not every infection follows a symptomatic course, say researchers at Gutenberg University in Mainz. Data from the Covid-19 study carried out there, which deals with the consequences of the pandemic, among other things, showed that around 42 percent of all infections remain undetected. The RKI currently expects around 7.5 million people to have recovered in Germany (as of January 27). At the same time, however, it is assumed that there is “under-reporting”.
Immunologist Watzl therefore describes the decision to shorten the convalescent status as “flying blind”. It is not known who has recovered in Germany or who has been additionally vaccinated. But that is important in order to realistically assess the size of the much-lamented vaccination gap.
Should those who have recovered be put on an equal footing with those who have been vaccinated?
“Numerous studies” have shown that people who have recovered from Covid-19 rarely become infected again in the months that follow, researchers write in the journal “The Lancet Infectious Diseases”. According to a September study, infection with the delta type of virus reduces the risk of re-infection by more than 80 percent. Another study shows that out of more than 9,000 previously infected people, only 0.7 percent become infected again within a year.
However, at the time the studies were conducted, the omicron variant was not yet in circulation. In addition, the immunity is “very variable”, on average those who have recovered are somewhat less well protected than those who have been vaccinated after two doses of Biontech, says Watzl. But there are also advantages: “The antibody level in those who have recovered decreases a little more slowly than in those who have been vaccinated. And the antibodies are more broadly based.”
Antibodies are also only part of the protection that the body develops. T cells could possibly even be active for life. According to “The Lancet Infectious Diseases”, patients who were infected with Sars-Cov-1 in 2002/03 still had T cells against this virus type 17 years later. The authors explicitly recommend that politicians equate those who have recovered with those who have been vaccinated – however, this judgment was made in a phase when the delta variant was still dominant.
What about Omicron?
“Studies show that many antibodies from those who have recovered can no longer recognize the omicron variant so well and that these people have little protection against infection,” says immunologist Watzl. However, this is also the case with vaccinated people. If the convalescent status is shortened, the same must be done for the term of the vaccination certificate. In principle, however, Omikron does not assume that the protection of those who have recovered will be massively impaired.
Why does this rule not apply to members of the Bundestag?
The decision to shorten the convalescent status was also criticized because members of the Bundestag were exempt from the rule. As a Parliament spokesman for the Tagesschau explained, but this regulation only applies to plenary and meeting rooms. This is justified by a regulation according to which the Corona rules in the Bundestag are linked to an outdated version of the Federal Government’s Covid regulation. It applied at the beginning of January when the new Bundestag rules were passed. The amended Corona Ordinance only came into force days later.
On Thursday, MPs want to discuss whether the convalescent status should also be shortened for them. Representatives of the SPD and the Federal Ministry of Health assume that the new regulation will also apply in the plenary hall in the future.
When should recovered people get vaccinated?
Since those who have recovered and those who have been vaccinated are only temporarily protected from symptomatic infections caused by corona or hospitalization, the Stiko recommends a refresher. The Stiko recommends those who have recovered to be vaccinated three months after the illness. The commission states four weeks after the end of the symptoms as the earliest point in time. This is to maintain protection and prevent the spread of the virus. Scientific data to justify the decision draws the Stiko in their “Epidemiological Bulletin” not approach.
Does the third vaccination need to be refreshed?
Israel announced at the end of December that it would give a fourth vaccination to people over 60. The same now applies to adults with previous illnesses. In Denmark, too, high-risk patients can take advantage of a fourth vaccination. The only requirement for the fourth vaccination is that the third vaccination was at least four months ago.
The reason: the immune protection also decreases here. UK Health Agency figures according to the booster reduces the risk of hospitalization by 74 percent. However, this only applies in the first two to four weeks after vaccination. Ten weeks later, the protection is only 66 percent. The protection against a symptomatic course is somewhat lower. Within the first two to four weeks, the risk is reduced by 65 to 75 percent with the refresher. From the tenth week, the protection drops to 45 to 50 percent.
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach had already thought about the fourth corona vaccination. Due to the lack of data to date, the Stiko has not yet issued a recommendation for the fourth vaccination. So far, according to Tagesschau information, a fourth vaccination has only been carried out in exceptional cases – for example in the case of medical staff or organ transplant recipients. The health policy spokesman for the Greens, Janosch Dahmen, said in an interview with the starthat a fourth vaccination is quite conceivable. However, according to the current status, it can only be a vaccination offer like the flu vaccination.
Sources: with DPA material, daily News, RKI, Stiko Bulletin, “Doctors Newspaper”, Covid-19 study,