Updated on 03/31/2022 at 14:49
- Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach is in favor of a fourth vaccination against the corona from the age of 60.
- Why this demand is met with skepticism and other important answers to the fourth vaccination.
A fourth corona vaccination for over 60s: Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has been promoting this for a few days and referring to new Israeli data. He is also pushing for a corresponding common thread at the EU level. The Permanent Vaccination Commission (Stiko), responsible for the issue in Germany, has so far been reluctant. Questions and answers about it.
What are the recommendations for the fourth vaccination in this country so far?
Since mid-February, Stiko has been advising certain groups to do so in the face of the omicron wave: people over 70, residents of health facilities and people with immune deficiency from the age of five. Because of the risk of outbreaks, staff at facilities such as clinics and nursing homes are also included. If there is a health risk, Stiko advises that the second update not be carried out before three months after the first. For the health and nursing staff, there must be an interval of at least six months.
How many people have followed the recommendation so far?
The course cannot be satisfactory, Lauterbach said recently. So far, less than ten percent of the 13.5 million people over 70 and people with immunodeficiency have been vaccinated for the fourth time. One of the possible reasons is that a vaccine adapted to Omicron is still lacking. Enough of earlier vaccines appears to be available: Lauterbach recently said that due to stagnant purchases by low-income countries, there were fears that vaccines in Europe would have to be destroyed.
Updated on 03/29/2022 at 1:58 pm
The Federal Minister of Health resumes relevant studies from Israel and promotes the fourth vaccination against the crown for certain groups in Brussels. Lauterbach would like a joint recommendation from EU colleagues in this regard. Furthermore, many previously unclaimed vaccines would be saved from destruction.
What is Israel’s experience with the second reinforcement?
Data from over 560,000 people aged between 60 and 100, some of whom were vaccinated only three times, some of whom were vaccinated a fourth time, appeared as a preprint a few days ago – that is, without the usual external evaluation. in studies. Result: Mortality from COVID-19 was reduced by 78% in the four times vaccinated group compared to the only boosted group. Lauterbach referred to this.
What’s behind it?
A more detailed analysis of the data shows: The differences between the two compared groups of three and four times vaccinated are minimal, as the vice president of the German Society for Immunology, Reinhold Förster, said: “Both groups have a very low risk of death of COVID on Omikron -19.” Information on reduced mortality was therefore based on relatively small absolute numbers. According to Preprint, for example, among people aged 60 to 69, five of the approximately 111,800 quadruplets vaccinated and 32 of the approximately 123,800 triples vaccinated died.
What other pitfalls does Israeli data have?
“The question is how comparable the two groups are. Some of those who have already been vaccinated three times should not have prepared for the fourth vaccination, which could partly explain the differences in mortality,” said Förster. Furthermore, the authors’ own team points out that they are only looking at a relatively short period of 40 days. The recorded cause of COVID-19 death in hospitals may also include cases where a positive test is an incidental finding.
How does Stiko see Lauterbach’s progress?
Stiko boss Thomas Mertens said the committee is constantly reviewing new data and checking for updates. The issue of the fourth dose cannot be determined by the age of the vaccinated person alone. Rather, past illness and vaccine protection considerations played a long-term role. “Based on the data available so far, however, it can be said that the second booster appears to only provide limited protection against infection, but can reduce serious strokes in at-risk groups.”
The current 70-year limit also emerged through an analysis of German data: with the result that most serious illnesses and deaths occur at this age. Mertens also spoke of priorities that need to be named: “A big problem with people aged 60 to 69 in intensive care units these days is patients without their first booster vaccination, with even worse vaccine protection or a complete lack of it.”
How do other experts assess the findings so far?
Several experts contacted reacted cautiously and assessed the data available so far as scarce. “Actually, we would have to wait to see if the observation is also confirmed in other countries,” said infectious disease specialist Jana Schroeder. “Safety data were also not collected in the Israeli study. Why should we be less careful with the elderly than with children? After all, corona vaccination for children aged five to eleven in Germany is still not generally recommended, despite more than eight million children vaccinated in the United States.”
There are also concerns because it is not completely clear which virus variants will predominate in a few months, which vaccines will be available and what that means for winter vaccination recommendations. (dpa/tar)
Updated on 03/30/2022 at 08:51
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach is promoting a fourth corona vaccination for everyone over 60 across the EU. “We must not forget that the Covid pandemic is not over in Europe yet. We have a very high number of cases, unfortunately we also have a very high number of deaths,” the SPD politician said on Tuesday (March 29) on the sidelines. consultations with their EU colleagues in Brussels.