Drosten on the Corona situation: “The pandemic is over”

The virologist Drosten considers the corona pandemic in Germany to be over. There will be the first endemic wave this winter, he told the “Tagesspiegel”. As a consequence, Minister of Justice Buschmann calls for the end of all corona measures.

Corona experts have expressed optimism about the situation in Germany. The virologist Christian Drosten comes to the conclusion that the pandemic is already over in this country. “We are experiencing the first endemic wave with Sars-CoV-2 this winter, and in my opinion the pandemic is over,” said the head of virology at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin.

Drosten: The virus can hardly get through

The immunity against Sars-CoV-2 will be so broad and resilient after the winter that the virus can hardly get through in the summer, said Drosten. According to his assessment, it could be different if the pathogen undergoes a further mutational leap. “But I don’t expect that anymore at the moment.”

After almost three years of the pandemic, several federal states are heading towards a new normal in dealing with the virus – away from everyday requirements and recommendations for behavior.

The term endemic describes a state in which the waves of infection flatten out and the effects of the infection process are therefore less serious for a large part of the population. The basis is a broadly existing immunity through vaccinations and/or surviving infections, which ensures fewer infections and milder courses. The immune system is no longer confronted with a new type of pathogen, it reacts faster and better to an infection.

Karagiannidis: Pandemic over after winter

The intensive care physician Christian Karagiannidis, who is a member of the German government’s Corona Expert Council, was just as optimistic as Drosten. In an interview with the editorial network Germany, he answered in the affirmative when asked whether the pandemic would be over after the winter. “I expect the pandemic to be tapering off now,” added Karagiannidis. Certainly there will still be one or the other small wave. However, the immunity situation of the population is solid and there are significantly fewer Covid patients in the intensive care units.

Karagiannidis also thinks it is unlikely that a dangerous corona variant will spread again in Germany. The defense against corona viruses apparently works very well, he said with regard to the immunity through antibodies and T cells. “We see that the number of serious illnesses is decreasing more and more. I don’t think we will experience a setback again.”

Buschmann: Protective measures must be phased out

Many experts now agree that the pandemic is over. The chairman of the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko), Thomas Mertens, had already said at the end of October that he now considered Sars-CoV-2 to be an endemic virus. He pointed out that the question of pandemic versus endemic is probably more of psychological than scientific importance. Because endemic does not mean that the virus will disappear. It will occur permanently with a relatively constant number of cases.

After Drosten’s statements, Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann pleaded for all protective measures to be phased out. “Christian Drosten was one of the most cautious scientists during the pandemic,” wrote the FDP politician on Twitter. “Now his finding is: The pandemic is over. We are in an endemic state. As a political consequence, we should end the last corona protection measures,” demanded Buschmann.

Infection wave has reached its peak

Karagiannidis sees the wave of respiratory diseases in Germany at their peak. “We currently know that the very strong wave of infections has just peaked and that the number of infections will hopefully decrease in the coming days,” said the President of the German Society for Internal Intensive Care Medicine. There are already signs of a slight decrease in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections and other infectious diseases.

Nevertheless, Karagiannidis warned that there could be bottlenecks in clinics on New Year’s Eve and New Year – albeit regionally and not nationwide. In view of the tense situation in the hospitals, he called on people to hold back from firecrackers on New Year’s Eve or to do without them altogether.