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Berlin (dpa) - Admittedly, in an international comparison, Germany is not one of the model students when it comes to vaccinating against Corona.

Israel, the UK and the US are way ahead of us.

But there is also progress in this country, especially among the particularly endangered seniors.

Around two thirds of the nursing home residents have already received the second dose.

In relation to all people in Germany, only a few percent are vaccinated, but the high rates among senior citizens could already have an effect - not only in the number of deaths.

It is noticeable that the 7-day incidence reported by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in people aged 80 and over is now significantly lower than the average for the population.

Despite stagnating or even increasing case numbers in the general population, there has recently been less and less evidence of infection among the very old with the virus.

RKI President Lothar Wieler recently assessed this development as a likely consequence of the vaccination.

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There is another striking development among the seriously ill and the dead.

In the intensive care units, the number of Covid-19 patients has decreased significantly in the past two months: 2,865 of them are currently being treated here (as of March 8) - the highest level was around 5,700 at the beginning of January 2021. However, the number of Covid-19 intensive care patients is after a long decline, it has just risen for two consecutive days.

The corona death toll continues to decline.

The authorities in the federal states reported 34 deaths within 24 hours, as shown by the RKI figures from Monday.

This is the lowest value since November 1st (29 cases), although the Monday values ​​are generally lower than on other days of the week.

Carsten Watzl, Secretary General of the German Society for Immunology, is convinced that the effects of the vaccinations can now be seen.

He points to the falling number of cases among those over 80 and the high vaccination rates in nursing homes.

Seniors in shared accommodation are particularly at risk for serious and fatal courses.

Uwe Janssens, board member of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), also believes that the vaccinations are having an effect - but not as clearly as the currently low death rate might suggest.

"We are relatively far behind when it comes to vaccinations, to put it mildly," says Janssens.

Since Germany only started vaccinating about two months ago and the number of inoculated doses has only recently increased significantly, the impact on the death rate may not yet be as strong.

In fact, many very old people have not yet been vaccinated.

In people aged 80 and over, only a little more than a third received a first dose of vaccine.

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According to Janssens, the low number of corona deaths is more due to the lockdown and the number of infections that has fallen over the weeks.

Important to know here: The number of deaths always lags considerably behind the development in the number of cases.

The RKI cites research according to which more or less two weeks pass between the onset of symptoms and death.

The number of new infections had decreased over several weeks at the beginning of 2021 and reached its lowest values ​​in mid-February.

So it was to be expected that the death toll would also fall.

Even if the corona death rates are currently comparatively low: The number of new infections reported has recently stagnated and now seems to be increasing again noticeably, which is also due to the increasing spread of the more contagious British variant.

Watzl assumes that the number of cases will continue to rise by the summer: "We will not be able to get out of this wave."

But it is important not only to look at the incidence.

"We are not doing a lockdown because the incidence is high, but because people are dying and the health system is overloaded," explains Watzl.

In the long run, it will be possible to get the vaccination under control.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210308-99-738806 / 3

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Science Media Center report on vaccinations and case numbers

RKI information on the time between the onset of symptoms and death

RKI case numbers

RKI case numbers according to age distribution

RKI dashboard

PEI safety report dated February 18, 2021

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RKI on vaccination quota in Germany

EU commission on corona vaccines

RKI profile about Sars-CoV-2 / Covid-19

RKI management report from 3.3.

with vaccination progress by age