Biontech and Pfizer have started their first clinical trial to investigate a corona vaccine specially tailored to the omicron variant. The safety, tolerability and effectiveness of the vaccine candidate are to be tested, as the two companies announced. The study will include up to 1,420 test subjects, who will be divided into three groups.
The first group consists of just over 600 participants who have already received two doses of the previous vaccine between 90 and 180 days before the start of the study and are now scheduled to receive one or two doses of the Omikron vaccine. The second group, almost as large, consists of boosted people who receive an additional dose of the conventional vaccine or a dose of the omicron vaccine. The third group with a good 200 test persons consists of unvaccinated people who have not yet had Covid-19 and who then receive three doses of the Omicron vaccine.
“The study is part of our scientific approach to develop a variant-based vaccine that offers similar protection against omicron as we have observed with previous variants, but at the same time lasts longer,” said Biontech CEO Uğur Şahin. Vaccines still offer a high level of protection against severe courses from omicron.
The Mainz-based pharmaceutical company and its US partner announced about two weeks ago that they had already started production of a vaccine adapted to the omicron variant for later commercial use. Biontech had stated that the two companies “are ready to supply the market by March if the regulatory approvals are in place”. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has not yet stated whether it considers an Omicron-adapted vaccine with a different composition than the vaccine currently used to be necessary. (01/25/2022)
Almost 127,000 new infections
In Germany, the number of infections detected increases by 126,955, according to data on the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) website. The seven-day incidence rises to 894.3. The previous day the reading was 840.3. Experts expect more and more cases that cannot be recorded, partly because test capacities and health authorities are increasingly at their limit.
According to the RKI, the number of deaths increases by 214 to a total of 116,960. Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 8,871,795 infections with Sars-CoV-2 have been detected. The actual total number is likely to be significantly higher, as many infections go undetected. (01/25/2022)
Expert council in Israel recommends fourth vaccination
An Israeli expert council has recommended a fourth vaccination against the corona virus for over 18-year-olds. The Ministry of Health announced that the recommendation applies to adults who received the booster vaccination more than five months ago or who had recovered before this period.
“The decision was made in light of positive results showing three to five times greater protection against serious disease after the fourth dose of vaccine,” the statement said. The protection against infection with the corona virus is twice as high in those who have been vaccinated four times than in those who have been vaccinated three times. The recommendation still has to be approved by the Ministry of Health.
In Israel, more than 600,000 people have already received a fourth dose of the vaccine. So far, the recommendation only applied to people over the age of 60, immunocompromised people and medical staff. According to experts, the country is at the peak of the omicron wave. More than 580,000 of the more than nine million citizens are currently infected with the virus. (01/25/2022)
Nationwide protests against the Corona policy
In many cities across Germany, tens of thousands of people protested against the restrictions in the corona pandemic and a possible vaccination requirement on Monday evening. In many places, those who are behind the measures and wanted to express their grief for the corona dead took to the streets again. The number of participants at each event ranged from fewer than a dozen to several thousand. There were sometimes clashes between opponents of the Corona policy and the police and journalists.
In Brandenburg Wandlitz a protester died after a medical emergency. The 53-year-old tried to break through a police chain. Shortly after determining his identity, emergency services had to provide first aid, the man later died in a hospital, the police said. In the Saxon Coswig near Dresden According to their own statements, media representatives had to stop reporting because reporters were pelted with bottles and physically attacked. The Saxony police confirmed the incident, a video had been secured and investigations had been initiated. A 40-year-old is being investigated for dangerous bodily harm.
In Rostock According to the police, around 300 people protested against the Corona policy, significantly fewer than in the previous weeks. People from the violent football scene and right-wing groups would have sought confrontation with the emergency services. Firecrackers were thrown at police officers and six officers were injured. From the Rhineland-Palatinate Saarburg the police reported three injured officers.
alone in Thuringia According to the police, around 26,500 critics of the measures and counter-demonstrators took part in 66 unregistered rallies and elevators and eleven registered meetings. Cities were the focus Gera with about 3100 participants as well Saalfeld and Altenburg with around 1700 participants each. Nine emergency services were injured, one officer was provisionally unfit for work.
As in the past week, the protest was held in Brandenburg cottbus Disbanded with up to 1200 people because no leader was found. In Nuremberg According to the police, around 4,400 people protested against the Corona policy in Luebeck about 2700 in Chemnitz around 2500, in Bautzen about 2200 and in Schwerin around 2000. In Brunswick around 1200 corona skeptics moved through the city center. (01/25/2022)
The federal and state governments do not want to loosen or tighten them
No further easing of the corona measures and prioritization of PCR tests and contact tracing: the federal and state governments have agreed on this. The existing contact restrictions and access rules have contributed to the very high number of infections of the omicron wave in Germany, which was predicted at the end of last year, said Chancellor Scholz (SPD) after the consultations. It was agreed to continue down this path. Regarding possible easing, he said: “We will then make decisions at the right time, but now the following applies: stay the course.”
“If there is a risk of the health system being overloaded”, “further measures” will have to be decided, said Hendrik Wüst (CDU), the head of government in North Rhine-Westphalia, who is currently leading the Prime Ministers’ Conference. At the same time, one wants to develop “opening perspectives” for the time when such an overload can be ruled out.
Like the health ministers of the federal states, the heads of government decided that PCR tests to be prioritized in the laboratories in the future: They should be evaluated with priority by employees in clinics, homes for the disabled or nursing homes, as well as by people who are particularly at risk. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and his colleagues in the federal states are now to pour this into a new regulation. At the same time, the test capacities would have to be expanded.
In view of the sharp rise in the number of cases, the health authorities could also use the previous one contact tracing no longer create, said Berlin’s governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD). Here, too, there must be a prioritization, the federal government should develop a corresponding concept. At the same time, all citizens should inform their contact persons themselves if they have contracted the corona virus and use tools such as the Corona warning app.
At the same time, the exclusion of spectators from major sporting events should remain the case, even if the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) calls for an end to the ghost games demanded in the football stadiums. Shortly before Christmas, the federal-state group had agreed on the exclusion, but it is not fully implemented everywhere: spectators are still allowed in some states, albeit fewer than usual. They now want to standardize this, it says in the Decision of the federal-states-round. The federal states want to develop a joint model by February 9, and the heads of government want to meet again a week later. By then, the federal government should also submit a proposal as to whether and how economic aid for affected companies and the Corona special rules at short-time allowance be extended; they are supposed to expire on March 31st.
Before the virtual federal-state meeting, politicians from the FDP and CSU in particular had called for a plan for future relaxation of the protective measures. CSU regional group chief Alexander Dobrindt said world, he expects a clever strategy from the round of prime ministers with Chancellor Olaf Scholz to “move out of the pandemic bit by bit”. It is clear that the Omicron variant changes the situation and requires a new assessment. “Fatigue effects in society” must also be taken into account, according to the CSU politician.
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) said in Anne Will’s ARD program that when the peak of the omicron wave expected for mid-February has passed and the numbers in hospitals have also fallen, the measures would have to be relaxed. This is self-evident. (01/24/2022)