Corona: The risky vaccination proposal could generate a small advance: Streeck sees a “possibility”, warns the manufacturer

Berlin: as many as possible, as fast as possible against that Coronavirus vaccinate: the plan of the federal government and especially the minister of health Jens spahn (CDU) sounds simple at first. But since the start of vaccination shortly after Christmas, several obstacles and planning difficulties have arisen in the effort. Spahn had to accept some criticism.

An important point: Germany must be vaccinated faster. According to Robert Koch Institute As of New Year’s Eve, 131,626 vaccinations had been reported. In an international comparison, Germany is not at the top. Instead, failed deliveries made the rounds, and the Health Ministry corrected shortly after.

In short: how can we get vaccinated faster? scientific see a starting point for the second vaccination. All vaccinated people must receive this for the vaccine to develop its full effect. According to the manufacturers Biontech and Pfizer This should happen after about 21 days, that is, three weeks. But now it is debated whether this second injection could not simply be postponed for a few weeks. So this could vaccine it can be used for other people instead of ordering the same people to return to the vaccination center.

Consideration for corona vaccination: if vaccine is missing, only give the first dose

“Since the interval between the two vaccinations can most likely vary within wide limits and the protection is very good even after a vaccination, it is definitely worth considering. Lack of vaccine initially I prefer to give the first vaccine ”, he said Thomas mertens, President of the Permanent Commission on Vaccination (Stiko) of the Robert Koch Institute.

The Bonn virologist sees it similarly Hendrik streeck. “The data has shown that after the first vaccination, most people are protected from severe disease,” he said on the RTL “Nachtjournal”. More specifically, think that a single vaccine will protect more than 50 percent from a severe course of Covid-19.

Peter kremsner, Director of the Institute of Tropical Medicine at the Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, says: “If the effect of the first vaccination does not diminish rapidly over time, then the second vaccination could also take place later, for example after six months. We don’t know yet. This is also done with other vaccines. ”

Corona vaccine: is a big change in strategy looming? Britain is showing the way

First, vaccinating each person only once would be drastic. Change of strategy half. It usually requires some planning to schedule appointments per person every three weeks and to always have enough vaccine available. Therefore, Mertens von der Stiko sees the proposal itself as an additional challenge when planning the second vaccination. Streeck also finds such a change in the Vaccination strategy it would have to be carefully considered and discussed. “It is not an easy decision, but it would be a way to vaccinate more people quickly.”

Another country, namely Britain, is already later in this discussion. On Wednesday, the government announced the change of strategy there. From now on, the second dose should only be given up to twelve weeks after the first. This change applies to people who would receive their second vaccination after January 4 or who have not yet been vaccinated. A report from guardian However, according to the announcement, some are concerned Controversy. Mainly because of the time and effort involved in scheduling and canceling previously agreed appointments, which vaccination coordinators now have to deal with.

Biontech and Pfizer Vaccine: Manufacturers View Plans Critically; the data would not provide any evidence

And there is another difference with the EU, what is the speed Regarding vaccination: on the island, for which the Brexit transition period ends on New Year’s Eve, two vaccines are already approved: in addition to the Biontech / Pfizer Comirnaty vaccine, the product of the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca and the University of Oxford.

Manufacturers Comirnaty He doesn’t seem to like the idea of ​​postponing the second vaccination. In a statement from Biontech and Pfizer, of which the guardian and quoting Reuters, he said there was no evidence that the first dose worked for more than three weeks. “The data from the phase 3 study showed that although partial protection from the vaccine appears to begin 12 days after the first dose, two cans of the vaccine needed to ensure maximum protection against the disease, a vaccine efficacy of 95 percent. There are none Datathat prove that the protection of the first dose is maintained even after 21 days, ”he says. (food / dpa)