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More than 29 million corona infections have been recorded in Germany so far, the number of unreported cases is likely to be much higher. Infections have been increasing again for several weeks: most recently, the seven-day incidence nationwide was 702.4 infections per 100,000 inhabitants. In many circles, the value is beyond the 1,000 threshold. So the risk of becoming infected with the highly contagious omicron subvariant BA.5 or any other variant of the coronavirus is increasing.
Should you now improve your immune protection with another booster vaccination – or would you rather wait until autumn, when the federal government is planning a new vaccination campaign with vaccines tailored to Omikron?
Who is currently advised to get a fourth vaccination?
Lauterbach goes further in his recommendation: He advises “young people who have many contacts or side effects” to talk to their doctor about a fourth vaccination.
What is the status of adapted omicron vaccines?
The currently approved vaccines were developed as protection against the wild type of the Sars-CoV-2 virus, which was largely displaced by more infectious variants during the course of the pandemic. Because the omicron variant and its subtypes have significantly more mutations than the previously rampant Delta or Beta variants, pharmaceutical companies are developing special omicron vaccines that map this genome change. According to experts, the vaccines that are already available continue to provide reliable protection against severe courses.
Both Moderna and Biontech/Pfizer are already satisfied with the results of the adapted vaccines. Experts and politicians are currently expecting the product to be ready for the market and approved by autumn. According to Lauterbach, the Federal Ministry of Health is currently preparing an omicron vaccination campaign for the fall. When exactly it can start is currently still open.
Should one wait for the adapted vaccines when boosting?
It is still unclear how reliable and how long the new vaccines can protect not only against severe courses, but also against infections. If they prevent infections from the outset, Kremsner said, “then we should all get vaccinated” because it would slow down the transmission of the virus overall.
How is the vaccination campaign going?
Nationwide, depending on the day of the week, between 10,000 and 60,000 doses were vaccinated. 7.3 percent of the population had their vaccinations refreshed twice.
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