Oktoberfest, the start of school, the beginning of the cold season – these components do not currently indicate that Corona could soon be a thing of the past. In fact, given the underlying conditions, it is more likely that the pandemic will experience another renaissance in the coming weeks. According to head Gerhard Schmid, the health department of the Munich district also expects this: “From the point of view of the health department, an increase in incidence is to be expected, but this will not become apparent for a few days at the earliest.”
The question remains how the population protects itself against the impending dangers. For the vaccination center in Oberhaching, Gerhard Bieber, spokesman for the Johanniter Unfall-Hilfe, can at least announce a “significant increase in vaccinations” since the beginning of this week.
In the past, only ten people who wanted to be vaccinated came to the center on Keltenring per day, but now there are between 30 and 50. However, this is not primarily related to the Oktoberfest, but is almost exclusively due to the introduction of the two adapted to the Omikron BA.1 variant Biontech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. “We’re hearing from a lot of patients that they’ve been waiting to get boosted with this vaccine,” Bieber said. A planned visit to the Wiesn, on the other hand, is only occasionally given as a reason for vaccination.
“Many people from the vulnerable groups are vigilant and take a close look”
On the contrary, according to Bieber, many older people are deliberately avoiding a visit to the Oktoberfest this year and are also currently planning their purchases in such a way that they come into contact with as few people as possible. “Many people from the vulnerable groups are vigilant and take a close look,” says the Johanniter spokesman.
The Vaccination and Test Center of the Malteser Aid Service in Haar has also been busier for a few days than in the past few weeks: the number of vaccinations and tests has increased slightly over the past few days, according to Director Alexander Brandstaeter. There is also an increase in positive test results.
While the increased demand for tests is likely to be related to the start of the Oktoberfest, Brandstaeter, like his colleague Bieber from the Johanniter, sees the reason for the greater demand for vaccinations primarily in the two new adapted vaccines. In any case, the health department recommends making an appointment online at https://impfzenten.bayern or by telephone via the call center of the respective vaccination center.
The new vaccine protects against the omicron variant BA.1, but the even newer BA.5 booster is not yet available
So while the new vaccine is already being cheerfully administered in Oberhaching and Haar, there are obviously still misunderstandings in the doctor’s offices from time to time: Klaus-Detlev Jost, who is new to Biberg and works as a vaccinator in Munich, reports that not everyone who has been vaccinated understands why The new vaccine is: The substance that is now being administered protects primarily against the “old variant BA.1”, reports Jost, “but hardly more than the previous one against the currently predominant BA.4 plus BA.5”.
The fact that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recently approved a BA.5 booster caused confusion among patients: “This vaccine, which was approved by means of emergency approval, is not yet available,” emphasizes Jost. Recently he even had to send away a potential vaccinee who had only asked for this new preparation.
According to the medical officer Gerhard Schmid, vaccination is still the most effective way to minimize the risk of serious illnesses. It can be assumed that a large proportion of the people in the district have already had contact with the virus in recent years, “whether through infection or vaccination,” says the head of the health department, who, however, has to limit: “This means that There is certainly a certain, if only relative, protection.” According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), around 40 percent of the population in the district has tested positive since the beginning of the pandemic, can only be spoken of to a limited extent.
However, despite the impending increase in infections, the health department is optimistic about the current situation: it can already be assumed that the number of people actually infected is significantly higher than the seven-day incidence indicated by the RKI (on Wednesday 248 ,5), but “the courses currently seem to be milder than, for example, infections with the delta variant,” emphasizes Schmid. After the death of two men in their mid-90s was reported last week, the number of corona victims in the district has increased to 388.