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There are many coronavirus vaccines today, but drugs for sick people are still rare. Health Minister Spahn has bought 200,000 doses of a drug that is also said to have helped former US President Trump.
The federal government has purchased a new corona antibody-based drug for Germany. “Starting next week, monoclonal antibodies will be used in Germany as the first EU country. Initially in university clinics,” said Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn of “Bild am Sonntag” (“BamS”) . “The federal government bought 200,000 cans for 400 million euros.” That corresponds to a price of 2000 euros per dose.
Mild course in high-risk patients
According to the report, former US President Donald Trump was treated with this form of antibodies after his corona infection. “They work like a passive vaccine. The administration of these antibodies can help high-risk patients in the initial phase in which a severe course is prevented,” said the CDU politician. Trump was treated with the REGN-COV2 antibody cocktail from the US company Regeneron in early October.
The active ingredient in REGN-COV2 is a combination of two specially developed antibodies that bind to the so-called spike protein of the coronavirus and can deform its structure. This is to prevent the coronavirus from attacking human cells and multiplying. According to Regeneron, the combination of two different antibodies should prevent the Sars-COV2 virus mutation.
Ask for their understanding for difficult decisions
In an interview with the newspaper, Spahn also warned against guilt by coming to terms with the corona pandemic. “Talking about errors and omissions is important. But without getting ruthless. Without it being just a matter of blaming others,” Spahn said.
At the beginning of the pandemic in April, the minister had already asked for understanding for difficult political decisions in the crown crisis. In the Bundestag he said, “that we will probably have to forgive a lot together in a few months.” Besides politics, there will also come a phase for society and science in which one realizes that one may have made a mistake in one place or another or that something needs to be corrected.
“We left too much room for the virus”
According to Spahn, politics and citizens are jointly responsible for the high rates of infection and deaths in the second wave of the pandemic. “We all had the deceptive feeling that we had the virus under control. We suspected the force with which Corona could return, but the vast majority did not want to admit it.”
He admitted that the federal government and federal states were too reluctant to fight the pandemic: “We gave the virus too much space. We should have taken tougher action in October in case of fewer infections.” At the time, some prime ministers in particular had resisted a harsher course, as advocated by Chancellor Angela Merkel and many virologists. Skeptics may feel supported by parts of the opposition and citizens.
