The director of virology at the University Hospital of La Charité in Berlin, Christian Drosten, believes that Spain and Portugal could leave the pandemic behind in spring, thanks to their high vaccination rates.
“We are very far from the end of the pandemic. As soon as (the variant) delta prevails with all its force the hospitals will be saturated ”, Drosten told the weekly Der Spiegel about the situation in Germany, where a new record of infections was reached today.
“On the other hand, in countries with high vaccination rates such as Spain and Portugal, the pandemic may be definitively overcome in spring,” he added.
Drosten explains that only when a large part of the population is immunized and only regional outbreaks occur, can a pandemic phase be considered to have passed to an endemic phase.
“We have to move intelligently and prudently towards the endemic phase avoiding that on the way there is a collapse of the health system and that the death figures skyrocket as in the United Kingdom. To do this you have to react as soon as possible ”, he said.
From a scientific point of view, according to Drosten, there is a need for contact restriction again and for the vaccination campaign to be accelerated.
He also warned of the danger of new variants of the virus emerging against which new vaccines have to be developed.
“Everyone should think about whether they can reduce their contacts for a couple of weeks. In the previous waves, the responsibility of citizens helped us to get out of the crisis. I am hopeful that this time it will also be achieved, ”he said.
The cumulative incidence of covid-19 in seven days continues to increase rapidly in Germany with a new high of 263.7 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) of virology updated last morning.
Health authorities reported 48,640 new infections in 24 hours, after yesterday’s record number of 50,196, and 191 deaths, while active cases stand at 395,300.
Germany has been registering since Thursday of last week several highs of new infections and incidence not only in this fourth wave but since the pandemic began.
The vaccination rate remains practically stagnant below 70%; As of Tuesday, 69.9% of the German population had been vaccinated, 67.3% with the full regimen.
In Spain, on the other hand, 78.88% of the population has received the complete schedule of the vaccine and 80.36% at least the first dose.
Among the population older than 12 years, 88.9% have received the complete regimen and 90.5% have received at least the first dose.
