DGS. New 11,000 cases and 58 more admissions – Observer
Incidence continues to rise in Germany trying to speed up vaccination
A covid-19 incident continues to escalate in Germany, where an Omicron variant is expected to dominate next week, and Health Minister Karl Lauterbach points out that the first dose of the vaccine is already effective against the variant.
The accumulated in Germany today is 222.7 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days, compared to 220.3 on Saturday, 215 on Friday, 220.7 in the previous week and 439.2 a month ago, in full fourth wave of the pandemic.
German health authorities reported 12,515 new infections in 24 hours and 46 deaths with or from covid-19, compared with 10,100 and 88 in the previous week, while the number of active cases is around 636,200, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) of virology, digital last night.
According to RKI’s weekly report last Thursday, in the week of December 20th to 26th the Omicron variant represents 17.5% of infections – with large regional differences – and Delta still accounted for 82.3% of cases .
By the last day of the year, 74.2% of the population (61.7 million people) had been vaccinated in Germany, 71.2% (59.2 million) with the full regimen, and 38.7% (32, 2 million) had already ordered the booster dose.
Thus, 21.5 million people – 25.8% of the population – remain unvaccinated, and four million (4.8%) are under four years old, therefore belonging to an age group for which they have not yet there is an approved vaccine.
Speaking to the German newspaper Bild, the health minister once again expressed his concern about the unvaccinated, given the beginning of the fifth wave caused by Ómicron, and underlined the effectiveness against this variant of a first dose of the vaccine.
According to Karl Lauterbach, “many unvaccinated people have the feeling that, in any case, they have already missed the train”, but “it is not like that”, because “the first dose of the vaccine drastically reduces the risk of dying after 14 days”.
“I appeal to everyone: get vaccinated. With the increase in the first doses administered, we can reduce the number of deaths with the coronavirus in the wave caused by Omicron”, he said.
The government official also called on the population to continue wearing a mask, stressing that, with an Omicron, this means of protection is even more effective, because the viral load of those infected is lower with this variant than with others.