In the current summer wave, many fear the cold season. It could drive up corona numbers even further. Immunologist Carsten Watzl, on the other hand, is already expecting very high immunity in Germany. Because of vaccinations and omicron infections, the starting position is better this fall.
While many people are warning of the fall, one expert is optimistic. In view of the numerous omicron infections, the immunologist Carsten Watzl assumes that there is a very high basic immunity in the population before an impending corona wave in winter. “The immunity of the adult population has now increased significantly, not only due to the vaccinations, but also due to the many omicron infections that have occurred,” said the Secretary General of the German Society for Immunology of the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. “One can assume that it is already at 95 percent and that the starting position will be better this fall.” !function(){var t=window.addEventListener?”addEventListener”:”attachEvent”;(0,window[t] )(“attachEvent”==t?”onmessage”:”message”,function(t){if(“string”==typeof t.data
The well-known immunologist has just contracted the omicron variant himself, despite having had a triple vaccination. “Corona just got me, too,” said Watzl. “Now I got the omicron booster naturally, so to speak, without a new vaccine,” he added. “I was in bed with a fever for two days and then my immune system’s memory cells from the vaccination did what they were supposed to do and then I got better quickly.”
Even with good basic immunity, however, further vaccinations and hygiene measures cannot be dispensed with, emphasized the Dortmund professor. “It’s always about avoiding too many absences from illness, which cause problems in important areas, and also reducing the risk of vulnerable groups becoming infected,” said Watzl. The immunologist emphasized that politicians must prepare a certain catalog of measures that can be brought out in winter. “You won’t need a lockdown, but you will need indoor masks and workplace rules to limit over-infection.”
In the event of a very high corona wave, a booster campaign with an adapted vaccine could also make sense. “With the campaign for the third vaccination as a booster, we have successfully vaccinated ourselves out of the delta wave,” explained Watzl. “You could probably do that with adapted vaccines against omicron.” Ordinary hygiene measures may also be sufficient.
However, the newly developed Omikron vaccines are superior to the current vaccines as a booster. “The current vaccine acts like a refresher and, with the fourth vaccination, restores the protection that you had shortly after the third vaccination,” said Watzl. “However, initial study data show that the Omikron vaccines actually act like a booster: you have a significantly better immune response to Omikron than you achieved after the third vaccination,” explained the immunologist.
“If you have any pre-existing conditions or are very overweight, then it definitely makes sense to get the fourth booster now. Then you should wait at least three months and then you can have the vaccine adapted to Omicron,” recommended Watzl. A fifth vaccination is not an immunological problem if you keep to the recommended interval of three months, explained the immunoresearcher. “There is no over-vaccination or a negative effect that you would be less protected after a new vaccination than before if you keep the distances.”
“Even the virus can never develop in such a way that we would have to start from scratch and the immunity would be completely useless,” said Watzl. On the contrary, the better the immunity of the population, the more difficult it is for the virus to change successfully. The professor was optimistic: “Therefore, there is a good chance that the worst will be behind us after this winter.”
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