To maintain the effect of the vaccine against the new type of SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19), “a booster dose is likely to be required,” Federal Health Ministry spokesman Sebastian Goldy said in the government. Briefing in Berlin on Friday that Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine developers have begun preparations to launch a single-dose product to update the vaccination.
Government spokesman Stephen Seibert added that Chancellor Angela Merkel and Health Minister Jens Spahn have already begun to conciliate on the issue. As I said:
German citizens can be assured that after the first wave of vaccination, there will be enough vaccine for booster vaccination.
Several epidemiological data also deteriorated on Friday in Germany. The number of newly registered infections rose daily for the fourth time in a row, and for the sixth time in the past seven days. However, the number of cases is still low and it is still not possible to read a trend from the data for a few days. It is already certain that it “would not be easy” to deal with a different type of virus called delta, which has become prevalent in Germany, Sebastian Goldy said of questions about the resurgence of the epidemic.
According to a report by the Robert Koch Institute of Public Health (RKI) on Friday, 949 infections were tested nationwide in the past 24 hours. While this is barely a third of the 3,254 cases in the previous month, it is an increase of nearly 50 percent from 649 in the previous week.
Also in recent days, for the first time since the end of April, the alleged reproduction rate (R) has again risen above the limit of 1, indicating the limitation and spread of the virus.
According to RKI’s calculations, the index rose to 1.17 on Friday from 1.09 the day before. This means that for every hundred new infections, the virus is transmitted to an average of 117 people. According to the institute, with a delta-contagious type of infection more common than before, at least 85 percent vaccination is needed in the 12-59 age group and 90 percent for those over the age of 60 to avoid another wave of epidemics.
However, the vaccination campaign has slowed in recent days. According to the federal government’s summary on Friday, an average of 649,583 doses of the vaccine were administered per day over the previous seven days. That number was still over 800,000 in mid-June. At least one dose of the vaccine was given to 57.9 percent of the population – 48,180,450 people. 41.5 percent of the population—34,490,355 people—are fully vaccinated. Along with newly recorded infections, SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in 3,734,468 people in Germany. Regarding Covid-19, 49 deaths were recorded in one day, bringing the number of victims of the epidemic to 91,190.
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