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The number of new corona infections has reached a new record: the RKI reported 23,648 cases in one day, citing information from health authorities. According to Chancellor Merkel, approval of the vaccine will soon be possible.
German health authorities reported 23,648 new corona infections to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in 24 hours, a new record. The previous peak was reached on Friday a week ago with 23,542 registered cases.
Compared to yesterday, the number of new reported cases increased by a good 1,000. Since the start of the pandemic, the RKI in Germany has counted a total of 879,564 detected infections with Sars-CoV-2. The number of deaths related to the virus increased by 260 to a total of 13,630.
Merkel believes vaccine approval soon
According to RKI’s situation report on Thursday night, the so-called seven-day R was 0.99 (previous day: 0.95). This means that, in theory, 100 infected people infect 99 more people. The value represents the onset of the infection 8 to 16 days ago. If it is below 1 for a long time, the infection process subsides.
Chancellor Merkel yesterday expressed optimism that the first vaccine could be approved soon in Europe. This could happen “in December or very quickly after the turn of the year,” Merkel said after yesterday’s video summit of heads of state and government.
The head of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is also confident that the candidate vaccines from Pfizer-Biontech and Moderna will receive a conditional marketing authorization “in the second half of December 2020”, if all goes smoothly.
In Europe, the pharmaceutical authority Ema is responsible for approval. Ema is in “daily contact” with its US counterpart, the FDA, to screen vaccine candidates as simultaneously as possible, von der Leyen said.
Detailed evaluation of the vaccine study is still pending
Biontech co-founder Ugur Sahin also believes that delivery and approval of the corona vaccine will be possible this year. His team is working “feverishly” on it, he told the AFP news agency.
The Mainz-based company Biontech with its American partner Pfizer and the American company Moderna recently reported on advances in vaccine development. According to her, her vaccine candidates are about 95 percent effective. In both cases, however, a detailed publication and evaluation of the study in a scientific journal is still pending.
The EU Commission, which on behalf of the member states concludes contracts with manufacturers for the acquisition of future vaccines, already has a firm agreement with Biontech-Pfizer for the delivery of up to 300 million doses. Negotiations are still ongoing with Moderna. The head of the company, Stéphane Bancel, recently warned the EU about delays in signing the contract.
