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Virologist Florian Krammer explains in the Ö3- Programm “Frühstück bei mir” on Sunday morning how safe the new corona vaccination is and when we would no longer need to wear mask.
This week, the corona vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer in Great Britain was the first Covid 19 vaccine to be approved in Europe. The vaccination campaign is scheduled to start in Austria in January 2021. For the virologist Florian Krammer, this is a first, big step towards normality: “The masks will probably be able to fall in late spring.”
“We won’t eliminate the virus, but if there are fewer cases, it won’t be a problem”, the professor for vaccine research at the medical university of the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York gives hope in the Ö3- programm.
Moreover, according to the expert, the effects of the vaccination will be felt faster in the private sphere than in public life. “If I have grandparents who belong to the high-risk group, they will be vaccinated quickly. Then you can return to normal life in the family with them quite quickly,” says Krammer.
According to current studies, vaccination protection should be available just six weeks after the first (of two) vaccinations. But: “The vaccine protects against the disease, but probably less well against infections. In other words, vaccinated persons can still be infected with Covid-19 and cause symptoms in unvaccinated persons.
The reason is that the vaccination causes corona antibodies to enter the bloodstream, which are transported to the lungs and protect them. However, the upper respiratory tract is not reached. This would require an oral vaccination – as we know it from the polio vaccination – or a nasal spray, for example. “Investigations are underway to determine the extent to which the vaccination can prevent asymptomatic infections. But there is a chance that you could infect someone even if you are not sick yourself.
Here, too, research is only just beginning. “Rare but dangerous side effects have not yet been found. However, these can only occur if you vaccinate a large number of people. This has already been the case with influenza or polio vaccination, where one to three out of one million vaccinated people have experienced side effects.
Krammer also points out the risk of short-term but unpleasant side effects of corona vaccination, such as headaches or increased temperature – “a sign that the immune system is reacting”, says the virologist.
As the vaccine is a very young product, it is also unclear how long the vaccination protection will last. “It can be assumed that a booster vaccination will be needed after a few years,” explains Krammer.
— hp, Source: heute.at. picture: pixabay.com
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