Category: Feature Stories

A fourth Corona vaccination does not adequately protect against the Omicron variant, according to an Israeli study. Infections are observed even in quadruple vaccinated people, Professor Gili Regev of Shiba Hospital near Tel Aviv said Monday. Two weeks after a fourth dose of the preparation from Biontech Pfizer, a “nice increase” in antibodies was observed. Their number was even slightly higher than after the third vaccination, he said. Dilemma whether for all fourth dose.“But for Omicron, this nice value is not enough.” Regev emphasized that these are interim results of…

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The omicron variant of coronavirus has already displaced delta and is causing rising infection rates in many countries. Although disease courses are likely to be somewhat milder, vaccine protection is declining more rapidly. “Omicron is not mild”The Omikron variant, which is now dominant in Austria, with its many changes, especially in the spike protein that is important for docking to cells, changes the rules of the pandemic game. Compared to the delta variant, the significantly higher transmissibility and the “immune escape”, i.e. the ability to escape an existing corona immune…

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Rumors about a flexible Apple phone have been around for a long time. A foldable iPhone is not expected until 2023 at the earliest. Foldable smartphones have not really caught on so far. Nevertheless, numerous cell phone manufacturers have a flexible device on offer: from Samsung to Motorola to Huawei. Oppo and Honor have also recently joined them. The situation is different for Apple. The technology group from Cupertino is still taking its time with the introduction of a foldable iPhone. Behind the scenes, however, the company is said to…

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In the face of the omicron wave, more than 30 scientists in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) urge a Europe-wide approach to curb the spread of the new variant. Recently, the impression has arisen in many cases that this is a “mild” variant, the containment of which no longer makes sense. In this context, IHS researcher Thomas Czypionka, who was involved in the appeal, warns against an “inappropriate and even dangerous” fatalism. The paper, published Thursday, brings together researchers from a wide range of scientific fields. From Austria, Czypionka, who…

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The number of Catholics in Austria again declined slightly last year, but remained largely stable. This is the result of the statistics published on Wednesday by the Austrian dioceses. Accordingly, there are 4.83 million Catholics in Austria as of Dec. 31, 2021. In 2020, there were 4.91 million Catholics, according to official statistics from the Austrian Bishops’ Conference. This corresponds to a decline of around 1.6 percent. One reason for this is increased departures from the church last year. Together with the preliminary Catholic figures, the official church statistics for…

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A new international study underscores the importance of third-party vaccination in the fight against the rampant Omicron variant of the coronavirus. According to the study by experts from Boston and Harvard, only those boosted with mRNA vaccines are protected against the new variant, while those who have recovered and been vaccinated are not. Blood samples from 239 people who had been vaccinated with Moderna, Biontech/Pfizer or Janssen were studied. The study found that antibodies after booster with mRNA vaccines were barely weaker against omicron than against the original virus, known…

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The previous record of 17,000 new infections with the corona virus, recorded in Austria on Wednesday, is likely to be pulverized in the coming days. Of it the Covid prognosis consortium is convinced. The experts assume in their current estimate that up to 30,000 new cases per day could be reached soon. At the end of January, a noticeable increase in hospital workloads can also be expected. It is likely that the daily number of cases will exceed 20,000 by the beginning of the coming weeks at the latest. On…

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Unvaccinated are back in the lockdown. After New Year’s Day, this means that the restrictions on exit regulations for shopping, work and leisure imposed with the December lockdown will once again apply to everyone who cannot provide 2-G proof. However, the last crisis summit of the federal government with representatives of the federal states and experts of the Gecko Commission on Epiphany also brought new measures: Since January 11, FFP2 masks have been mandatory outdoors if the distance falls below two meters. Also since 11 January, there have been compulsory…

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The World Health Organization (WHO), citing a projection, warns that more than half the people in Europe could already be infected with Omicron in two months. Omicron represents a tidal wave sweeping across Europe from west to east, adding to the increase in delta numbers that countries had experienced by the end of 2021, WHO Regional Director Hans Kluge said Tuesday at an online press conference in Copenhagen. Rapid spreadOmicron is rapidly becoming the dominant variant in Western Europe and is now spreading to the Balkans, Kluge said. He refers…

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