The omicron subvariant BA.5 continues to spread. Not only the new corona infections, but also the deaths are increasing. Vaccine adaptation is lagging behind.
Frankfurt – The proportion of the omicron variant BA.5 in corona infections in Germany continues to increase. As the Robert Koch Institute announced in its last weekly report, it is now responsible for almost 66 percent of new infections. In the previous week, the value was still 52 percent.
The good news: The BA.5 corona variant can also be tackled, as WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove explains on Twitter. The tools are known: wear a mask, keep your distance, ventilate sufficiently and test. However, the corona rules in Germany are much more lax than they were last year. According to the expert, the omicron subvariant can spread more and more because many people meet without a mask and distance and groups mix.
Corona: BA.5 dominates in Germany – adapt vaccines faster?
The worst consequence of the rising corona numbers: “The deaths have also increased in the past five weeks,” explains Van Kerkhove. The background is that many infected people are not or not sufficiently vaccinated. There are already calls – for example from Gernot Marx, President of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (Divi) – for a fifth corona vaccination in autumn for older people. The vaccines have not yet been adapted to omicron variants such as BA.5.
In view of the race between the virus and vaccines, there is a discussion as to whether the approval process should be accelerated. Biontech boss Uğur Şahin is in favor, as he recently told the Financial Times . He spoke of a four-month time advantage through a procedure without additional clinical studies, i.e. in humans. A few weeks ago, the medicines agency EMA, which is responsible for approval in Europe, signaled that, depending on the data submitted, a framework similar to that of the flu vaccination could possibly be reached. No clinical data would have to be submitted before the annually updated vaccine could be approved.
Omicron subvariant BA.5: Law of Large Numbers – Deaths increase
As of now, however, this is still a dream of the future. The number of new corona infections is currently high, and people in Germany die of Covid disease every day. And not only here: “Of the top 50 countries that saw an increase in the number of deaths, 35 saw an increase of 100 percent or more,” writes WHO epidemiologist Van Kerkhove. “Those are not the trends we want to see.”
However, the background does not necessarily have to be a higher pathogenicity of BA.5. One thing is certain: the virus is more infectious than previous variants. As a result, more people become infected, which again increases the risk of infection. If the corona virus then hits unvaccinated people from risk groups, there is a higher probability of severe courses or even death. Means: The background to the increasing number of deaths is the high number of infections. It is currently unclear whether the currently predominant omicron subvariant is actually more pathogenic. (fd)
