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Ciesek in the Corona podcast: “Willingness to be vaccinated will increase” | NDR.de – news

Status: 12.01.2021 5:49 p.m.

Im NDR Info Podcast Coronavirus Update explains Sandra Ciesek why she considers the approved corona vaccines to be safe and why it might make sense to exhaust the scope for giving the second dose.

by Ines Bellinger

According to a survey by infratest dimap for the ARD Germany trend from the beginning of January, the willingness to vaccinate has increased. 54 percent of those surveyed said that they definitely wanted to be vaccinated against the coronavirus – that was 17 percentage points more than in November. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 60 to 70 percent of the population would have to be vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity against the novel coronavirus.

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An actual Study from Erfurt shows that the willingness to vaccinate is generally higher among people who have confidence in the safety of the vaccine and see vaccination as a civic duty or who have had experience of Covid 19 diseases in their environment. In the new podcast episode, the director of the Institute for Medical Virology at the University Hospital Frankfurt am Main sees the fact that many people in the health professions in Germany do not want to be vaccinated as a starting difficulty: “They are normal people who have the same worries I believe that vaccination will increase when these people see that their colleagues are getting vaccinated and that they are tolerating the vaccine well. “

Vaccine Development: No Compromise on Safety

The skepticism towards the so far Biontech / Pfizer and Moderna vaccines approved in Europe could stem from the short development time and concern about side effects, but also from the fact that no mRNA vaccine has ever been approved – a vaccine that is the blueprint for a small part of the virus in channeling the body. The body uses this to produce a spike protein for a certain period of time in a few cells, which provokes the desired immune response and stimulates the formation of antibodies, explains Ciesek. “It is impossible that such a completely reproducible virus could develop.”

Ciesek attributes the rapid development of the vaccine, which normally takes ten times as long, to joint efforts worldwide – both scientifically and financially. “Nevertheless, no compromises have been made in terms of safety or tolerability,” says Ciesek.

No serious side effects so far

The expert also gives the all-clear when it comes to side effects. A few study participants experienced side effects that are generally expected with vaccinations: redness, swelling and pain at the injection site. Such a reaction is a sign that the immune system has received the desired stimulus and is dealing with the vaccine. “Serious and undesirable side effects never occurred in studies of either vaccine,” says Ciesek. If there were rare, serious side effects, they would have been seen long ago, since millions of people have already been vaccinated against Sars-CoV-2.

Further information

A cannula is in a vial of vaccine.  © Colourbox Photo: Proxima Studio

The Standing Vaccination Commission updated its recommendations on Covid-19 vaccination on January 8, 2021.
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Allergic reactions extremely rare and easily treatable

The CDC, for example, has a first Study of allergic reactions to the vaccine by Biontech / Pfizer released. Data was collected from 1.89 million vaccinations in which 175 allergic incidents were reported. Of these, in turn, 21 proved to be a real anaphylactic reaction (e.g. shortness of breath, drop in blood pressure, nettle reaction). In 17 of these cases there was also an allergic history, seven patients were severely allergic. Ciesek’s conclusion: allergic reactions occur extremely rarely and almost always in people with a corresponding history. They are easily treatable and not specific for an mRNA vaccine. They could occur with every drug administration. The CDC study also does not indicate long-term damage, on average the allergic reaction occurred within 13 minutes after the vaccination, i.e. in a period in which the vaccinated are still medically observed anyway.

Vaccination strategy: use the scope for a second dose

With regard to the vaccination strategy in Germany, Ciesek argues that the leeway that is covered by the approval should be exploited. The necessary second dose should only be administered after four to six weeks instead of the previous 21 days. Unlike in Great Britain, the vaccination centers in Germany and many other countries withheld the second dose for those who had already been vaccinated. If the available vaccine were to be vaccinated completely in initial doses, this would have the advantage, according to Ciesek, that more cases could be prevented and the pandemic could be positively influenced. However, it must be ensured that the people get the second dose within six weeks, otherwise one would only get a partial immune response (protective effect of the Biontech vaccine after the first dose: 52.4 percent, after the second dose: 94.8 percent).

Hope for a longer immune response after vaccinations

Ciesek expects the situation to ease when more vaccines are added. Astrazeneca’s serum is expected to be approved by the end of January. The first and second dose, however, would have to come from the same vaccine: “You continue to vaccinate with the vaccine you started with.” Ciesek emphasized again that despite the vaccination, the anti-corona measures must continue to be observed. According to Ciesek, a study published in the USA in the specialist journal “Science” that looks at different areas of the immune system after having been infected gives hope for a longer immune response after vaccinations. However, there was still a lack of reliable data.

New virus variant from Japan and Brazil

When it comes to the effectiveness of the vaccine against mutations, science also has “first data that give the all-clear,” said Ciesek. Biontech was able to show in the laboratory that the vaccine prevents cells from being infected by virus particles with the N501Y mutation. This mutation carries both the English and the South African variant, which has just been detected for the first time in Germany. However, according to Ciesek, it is important “to look at the interplay of mutations. They can have a different biological effect than individual mutations.” For example, there was still no virological data on a new virus variant detected in Brazil and Japan that also carries the well-known N501Y mutation. As things stand, there is no reason for greater concern, says Ciesek: “As long as the vaccines are effective, I am relatively relaxed.”

Further information

Graphic representation of a coronavirus © COLORBOX Photo: Volodymyr Horbovyy

What is an aerosol? What is a cell culture? Our glossary explains the most important technical terms from our podcast with virologists Christian Drosten and Sandra Ciesek. more




Coronavirus update: Podcast with Christian Drosten and Sandra Ciesek

The coronavirus pandemic has led to some drastic restrictions on public life in Germany and around the world. The more the virus spread, the more people wanted to know about it. NDR Info responded to this need for information with the coronavirus podcast. Every Tuesday, Christian Drosten, head of virology at the Berlin Charité, and Sandra Ciesek, director of the Institute for Medical Virology at the University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, answer current questions on a weekly basis.

Further information

The virologist Prof. Christian Drosten and the virologist Prof. Sandra Ciesek (montage) © picture alliance / dpa, University Hospital Frankfurt Photo: Christophe Gateau,

Here you will find all episodes broadcast so far for reading and listening to as well as a scientific glossary and much more. more



Das Coronavirus © CDC on Unsplash Photo: CDC on Unsplash

The virologist Christian Drosten provides expert knowledge in the podcast Coronavirus Update – together with virologist Sandra Ciesek. Here is an overview of all the episodes. more



Researchers in white coats climb a mountain with a syringe on top.

A third corona vaccine could still be approved in the EU in January. The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford have applied for approval for their product. more



A cannula is in a vial of vaccine.  © Colourbox Photo: Proxima Studio

Willingness to vaccinate – this will be particularly important in the future. Opinions are also formed on social media. However, with all sorts of fake news. more



Samples for a PCR test are sorted by an employee in the Corona test center in Nordhorn.  © dpa-Bildfunk Photo: Sina Schuldt

This means that the number of reported cases in the state remains high. There were 48 other deaths. More corona news in the live ticker. more




This topic in the program:

NDR Info | The coronavirus update from NDR Info | 01/12/2021 | 17:00 o’clock


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