Top virologist Christian Drosten (50) considers the corona pandemic to be over. In an interview with the “Tagesspiegel” he explained: “We are experiencing the first endemic wave with Sars-Cov-2 this winter, in my opinion the pandemic is over.”
After this winter, the immunity of the population will be so broad and resilient that the virus will hardly be able to get through in the summer. In principle, a mutation jump in the coronavirus is still possible. “But I don’t expect that at the moment,” said Drosten.
Also in the future “one or the other small wave”
Other health experts also see the corona pandemic before the end. “I firmly believe that the pandemic is now dying out,” says intensive care physician Christian Karagiannidis (49) to the “RND”.
He also considers it unlikely that a dangerous variant of the corona virus will spread again in Germany. The defense against the pathogens apparently works very well, he said about the immunity via antibodies and T cells in the population.
“We see that the number of serious illnesses is decreasing. I don’t think we will experience another setback,” said Karagiannidis. There will be “one or two small waves” in the future, “but we notice that the immunity situation of the population is solid and that we have significantly fewer Covid patients in intensive care.”
Drosten defends protective measures
In the “Tagesspiegel” Drosten also referred to the situation in China, which differs considerably from that in Germany. “The big mistake in China was that the population, especially the elderly, was not aware of vaccination.”
The vaccination campaign in Germany and the rest of Europe, on the other hand, was the decisive step in fighting the pandemic, said Drosten. He also defended other protective measures against the pandemic. “If nothing had been done, there would have been a million deaths or more in Germany in the waves up to Delta,” he stressed. (AFP/obf)