Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach wants to provide people who suffer from the long-term effects of corona disease with better medication. In the future, drugs that were actually developed to treat other diseases should also be prescribed for Long Covid patients and covered by health insurance companies, Lauterbach said on Tuesday after a meeting with experts. “The treatment of those suffering from Long Covid should not fail because of formalities.”
The causes of Long Covid have so far been largely unexplored and there are no medications specifically for this disease. However, it has been shown that existing medications – for example against sleep disorders or circulatory problems – could help alleviate the symptoms of Long Covid, said Lauterbach. This so-called “off-label” use has so far only been accepted by health insurance companies in exceptional cases. By the end of the year, the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) will now draw up a list of medications that doctors could prescribe for Long Covid if this makes sense in an individual case. This is intended to prevent doctors from having to go into a legal gray area to treat Long Covid patients; In addition, this clarifies the assumption of costs by the health insurance companies.
There are no exact figures as to how many people are affected by Long Covid. The ministry estimates that between six and 15 percent of those infected with Corona develop Long Covid. In one Overview study in the specialist journal Nature Reviews Microbiology At the beginning of the year it was said that Long Covid accounted for at least ten percent of serious infections. Around 65 million people worldwide would suffer from long-term effects of Corona. A million people are said to be affected in Germany alone.
Criticism of Lauterbach’s plans came from the opposition. The CSU health politician Stephan Pilsinger told the SZ: “Always new conversations and announcements don’t help those affected.” At the beginning of the year, Lauterbach promised 100 million euros for research into the disease and new therapies. “The federal government’s current budget draft does not even contain half of the promised funds.” Lauterbach himself also admitted that he had not yet been able to obtain the research funding he was seeking. So far, 40 million euros have been earmarked for Long Covid research in the 2024 budget. The minister announced that he would therefore renegotiate. “100 million is the minimum we need.” Lauterbach did not comment on the chances of success of this planned initiative on Tuesday. There have recently been numerous public conflicts within the traffic light coalition.
Even beyond the Long Covid supply, Lauterbach is facing a complicated Corona autumn: experts are already seeing the beginning of a new wave of infections. “The variants we are currently observing are very contagious,” said Lauterbach. However, it is positive that we are still dealing with omicron variants, which means that mild disease courses can be expected in the majority of cases. It is impossible to predict how many people will become ill in the coming months. It also seems to be unclear to what extent public life and the economy could be affected by a new Corona wave. According to Lauterbach, there is good immunity in the population, but every corona disease is a risk. With the number of infections now rising again, he advises “especially those who have risk factors”, such as a previous severe corona episode or other previous illnesses, to “wear a mask”.
The adapted corona vaccine should be available from September 18th
Lauterbach also advocated following the recommendations of the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko). This recommends that members of risk groups and people over 60 years of age receive a booster vaccination with the adapted corona vaccine in the fall. Biontech’s vaccine should be available in doctors’ practices from September 18th.
However, organizing the vaccinations could be complicated: On the one hand, it is unclear how many people will actually be vaccinated again against Corona. A survey for the Daily Mirror recently suggested that a fifth of the total population is planning a booster vaccination, ten percent are still undecided. However, these numbers could change quickly – in any direction – depending on the development of the virus variants then circulating. In addition: The adapted Biontech vaccine will only be available in six doses. In order not to waste any vaccine, doctors would always have to vaccinate six patients in quick succession. The general practitioners’ association has therefore already warned of “organizational overkill”, and Lauterbach was also visibly annoyed on Tuesday: “The company was not in a position to provide us with individual doses.”