Lauterbach calls for a focus on as many first vaccinations as possible

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Berlin (dpa) - SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach calls for a change of course in the corona vaccination strategy towards as many short-term first vaccinations as possible.

If the interval between the second vaccination for the mRNA vaccines from Biontech and Moderna were extended from six to twelve weeks, over 60 million people in Germany could be vaccinated for the first time by July and thus be protected against serious disease, he told the “Augsburger Allgemeine”.

"If we change our strategy now and focus on as many primary vaccinations as possible, a fourth lockdown will no longer be necessary."

Lauterbach referred to experiences from Great Britain and model calculations with his participation, according to which "well over 10,000" deaths could be prevented in this way.

«Study results from Australia indicate that the protection of the mRNA vaccines between the sixth and twelfth week after the vaccination is so strong that the risk of severe courses with hospital stays or fatal outcome is extremely low in the event of a corona infection. »

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The Secretary General of the German Society for Immunology, Carsten Watzl, supported the proposal and called for no more doses to be set aside for second vaccinations.

"We currently have over 1.2 million cans of Biontech and half a million of Moderna in stock in the freezer," said Watzl of the "Augsburger Allgemeine".

"But now we have to be pragmatic and criticize everything that is delivered."

It is possible that the protection wears off a little between weeks six and twelve.

But: "Even if the vaccination interval is a little longer than six weeks, we may save more lives than we risk serious illnesses."

The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) at the Robert Koch Institute had initially recommended an interval of three to six weeks for the Biontech / Pfizer agent and an interval of four to six weeks for the Moderna vaccine.

In a draft resolution dated April 1 to update the recommendations it now says: “The second dose of vaccine should be given after six weeks for the mRNA vaccines and after twelve weeks for the Astrazeneca vaccine, as this provides a very good individual protective effect and a greater effect of vaccination at the population level can be achieved. "

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210405-99-88957 / 2