A wave already in the summer including possible difficult courses? Sounds like very bad news.
After all: virologist Dorothee von Laer is a little more confident. “The numbers will be lower in the summer than in January and February,” she says, but: “It probably won’t be as quiet as the last couple of years.” also get better weather conditions (such as higher temperatures) more spread out. “We are still dealing with Omikron, but that could change in four weeks,” says the virologist. And then? In which direction the virus will mutate – “from even more harmless to the killer variant” – neither Lauterbach nor the best virologists could predict. “This virus is good for surprises,” says von Laer.
Mixed variants, as described by Klimek, have so far been “little flashes in the pot” and have always died. However, a new variant is likely to be more contagious (or have a shorter incubation period) and the immune system can handle it better than previous variants. This means: people who recovered from Omikron or Delta would not automatically be protected from it.
Von Laer’s suggestion to be as well prepared as possible for the surprises of the virus: immediately start a vaccination campaign for those over 60 who have not been vaccinated, including a mandatory consultation with the family doctor. Because while protection against infection diminishes the more time that has passed since vaccination, protection against serious strokes lasts well beyond six months after the third vaccination, says von Laer. At least it’s good news. And then there is the guarantee of Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens). “We are getting ready for fall NOW,” he wrote on Twitter.