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Franz Allerberger, head of the “Public Health” department of the Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), is less optimistic about a vaccine against the coronavirus than Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens). He expects a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 in July 2021 at the earliest, he said in the Ö3 program “Frühstück bei mir” today. Allerberger also does not believe that a specific drug is on the way.
However, the AGES expert does not see any reason for concern: “It is a much more harmless disease than we feared ten months ago, when we still thought the mortality rate was 30 percent of those infected. Allerberger confirmed a new study by Stanford University, which shows a coronavirus mortality rate of 0.23 percent. “This figure is a close match with our data.
Allerberger saw the development of infections as more difficult: “90 percent of Austrians are fully susceptible, and the proportion of older people over 65 should not be underestimated, because the mortality rate there is significantly higher than with seasonal flu. The infectiologist is particularly worried about the coming winter: “We have to be careful that we don’t experience our blue wonder.
He assumed that “the number of cases will double or go even higher. Once we have 4,000 or 5,000 new infections a day, we have to expect that medical care will encounter bottlenecks, that we will see deaths in nursing homes and that politicians will then come under massive pressure.
Highlight in December or January
In principle, one could not prevent the individual deaths, but only push the process back a little – “‘flatten the curve’, as it is called”, Allerberger stated. The expert sees the actual peak of coronavirus infections “in December or January”.
The AGES representative gave a differentiated assessment of the tightening of restrictions: “It is not the case that it is one hundred percent proven that every measure has the right effect. Bringing forward the curfew is a good example. Many people say that this is a mistake because people then celebrate privately. But it is one of many measures. It signals that we have to reduce social contacts. It’s about underlining the awareness of the problem.” Allerberger does not think that a second lockdown is necessary at the moment: “I believe that the same goal can be achieved with measures that are more lenient.
hp, Source: ORF.at/agencies. Picture: stockilyapp.com
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