Category: Feature Stories

What some Austrians are probably looking forward to is Nuvaxovid – the protein-based vaccine from the US manufacturer Novavax. Austria, after all, has ordered 750,000 doses of Nuvaxovid for the first quarter of 2022, with delivery expected in the last week of February. EU approval took time as Novavax struggled with production issues. Ultimately, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) was able to approve nuvaxovid as the fifth vaccine on Dec. 20. What distinguishes each type of vaccine from the other, and why Novavax’s vaccine is not actually a dead vaccine:…

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As soon as symptoms become worse than a cold, you should contact your doctor.Infection numbers are going up and up. What if I catch the virus now? A medical professional explains which remedies relieve the symptoms and what else to look out for. Even though the course of the disease is more often mild in Omicron, this does not mean that it runs without symptoms. However, one should remain calm and not panic. The rule of thumb is: If the infection feels like a mild cold, you can safely cure…

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The omicron variant continues to gain ground worldwide. A study now shows how long Coronaviruses in the air are really contagious. It is easier to become infected with the coronavirus indoors than outdoors. Aerosols play a major role in its spread. However, many infected people do not know where exactly they became infected. “But it is known that unventilated indoor spaces are certainly the pandemic driver, when many people gather in them, celebrate together,” explains aerosol expert Gerhard Scheuch in the ntv podcast “Wieder was gelernt.” According to a study…

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Some changes are in store for vaccination certificates, Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein said Wednesday. For example, booster vaccination will be possible as early as three months after the second vaccination. On Feb. 1, about 550,000 vaccination certificates of twice-vaccinated people will also expire. Lockdown for unvaccinated endsBeginning Feb. 1, the minimum legal interval between 2nd and 3rd vaccination will be reduced from 120 days to 90 days. However, the recommendation of the National Immunization Panel continues to be that the 3rd vaccination be given no earlier than four months after…

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Omicron is just spreading across Europe, and a sub-variant is already emerging. BA.2 is active primarily in Denmark. Omicron, scientifically known as BA.1, dominates worldwide, but now a subspecies has emerged. The “little sister” of the omicron variety called BA.2 has already appeared in several European countries, including the UK and Denmark. The new virus type has also arrived sporadically in Austria, apparently spreading even faster than Omicron. It is still unclear where the new sub-variant originated, as cases are also being reported from India. RESEARCHERS OBSERVE OMICRON SUBVARIANTMedical researchers…

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As of Feb. 1, the determining factor for travel in the EU should no longer be how strong the infection incidence is in the country of departure. Instead, greater attention is to be paid to vaccination, testing or recovery certificates. In the future, a valid EU Corona certificate will be more important for travel in the EU than the level of infection in the country of departure. The EU states agreed on Tuesday that from February 1, it should no longer be decisive where a trip starts – but whether…

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There may be an end to the acute phase of the Corona pandemic in 2022 in the eyes of the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) – and with an international show of force. WHO: endemic start unclearAmong other things, that would require closing vaccination gaps in poorer countries and more testing, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday at a WHO Executive Board meeting in Geneva. Difference between Omicron and DeltaOmicron “creates a credible hope for stabilization and normalization,” WHO regional chief for Europe Hans Kluge said Monday. This variant…

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Covid vaccines work very well against severe courses and deaths, and the booster does even better, new data from vaccinated and unvaccinated people in Austria illustrate. Three doses provide 99.2 percent effectiveness against deaths compared to unvaccinated. After two partial vaccinations, the figure is 92.6 percent, with a decline in protection against infection observed in the fall, the analysis by Gesundheit Österreich GmbH (GÖG) shows. “The result for Austria is in line with other international studies,” emphasized Lukas Rainer of GÖG. However, the data refer mainly to the delta variant.…

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Frankfurt researchers have identified a possible cause of milder disease courses in the omicron variant of the corona virus. Cell experiments have shown that Omicron is particularly sensitive to the so-called interferon response in humans compared to the predecessor variant Delta, the University Hospital in Frankfurt reported. Interferons are part of the immune system. The Frankfurt researchers, together with a team from the British University of Kent, published their findings in the journal Cell Research. “Apparently, unlike Delta, Omicron cannot prevent the affected cells from producing and secreting interferon,” Martin…

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