Category: Feature Stories

At least 70 percent of people in the EU are fully vaccinated against the corona virus.This was announced by EU Commission President von der Leyen.This means that the EU has achieved an important goal. The European Union has achieved an important goal in the fight against coronavirus. According to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, 70 percent of adults are now fully vaccinated. “That’s more than 250 million people immunized,” the EU’s chief executive said Tuesday. She spoke of a “great achievement” and a “milestone.” The EU has successfully…

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The school year starts with a safety period. The first vacations are coming soon. On September 6, the new school year starts in Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland, in the other provinces it starts on September 13. Unusual is the corona-related start with a three-week “safety phase” – during this time there are uniform requirements for corona tests and mandatory masks at the schools. Following is an overview of the most important dates. What happens during the safety phase?During the safety phase, all students and teachers must take a Corona…

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Approximately one in five people with corona disease do not develop immune protection against SARS-CoV-2, according to a study by scientists at MedUni Vienna. Protection requires the ability to form antibodies.The protection that prevents docking and invasion of the body’s cells only occurs if antibodies can be formed against the folded receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein. However, some people are unable to do so, likely due to current vaccines. Corona sufferers and antibodiesThis docking site does not change significantly even in viral mutants, a MedUni statement stressed…

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A new Delta variant is spreading in the United States. There are already cases in Europe as well. Now the first researchers are already urging caution. The coronavirus continues to mutate: after Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta, as well as some lesser-known variants, another mutant has now appeared in the form of AY.3. This is a subspecies of the delta variant, which is currently also dominant in Switzerland and is significantly more infectious than earlier Sars-CoV-2 forms. The spread of AY.3 is mainly observed in the Midwest and in the…

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“We won’t get around a lockdown,” says virologistDorothee von Laer. Vaccination for under-12s could provide a remedy. Innsbruck virologist Dorothee von Laer believes a new Corona lockdown is inevitable in the fall. The expert says so in an interview in the current issue of the news magazine “profil”. “If the wave does not flatten out soon, we will not get around a lockdown,” says von Laer. The reasons: low Corona vaccination rates, declining protection among the elderly and the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus. There is one big…

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The risk of hospitalization is about twice as high with the delta variant as with the alpha variant of the coronavirus, according to a study of 40,000 corona cases in England. The study was primarily devoted to the risk for the unvaccinated.The risk of hospitalization is probably about twice as high for infection with the delta variant of the coronavirus as for the alpha variant, according to a study. Researchers from the University of Cambridge and Public Health England evaluated more than 40,000 corona cases in England from the end…

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“Covid-22 could become even worse than what we are experiencing now,” says Swiss scientist Sai Reddy, with regard to new Corona variants. Vaccinations would therefore have to be adapted in the future as well.Warning against superspreader eventsA scientist working in Switzerland warns of a new Corona super-variant. This could form as a combination of existing variants, Sai Reddy, assistant professor at the Department of Biosystem Science and Engineering at ETH in Basel, said in an interview. “It is very likely that a new variant will emerge where we can no…

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Of the 18 Covid patients requiring intensive care in Vienna hospitals at the beginning of this week (cutoff date: August 23), 16 had not been vaccinated against the coronavirus.The 18 covid patients include seven men and 11 women. One had received a partial vaccination, and another was fully immunized but immunosuppressed. The city of Vienna made the announcement Thursday afternoon in response to an APA query. Vienna Covid intensive care patients: Average age 54.7 yearsImmunosuppression is present, for example, in people whose immune system has been weakened by appropriately necessary…

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BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines lose protective efficacy over time. A large-scale English study has now shown the extent to which the protective efficacy of AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech corona vaccines diminishes after several months. At the same time, the researchers call for rapid plans for booster vaccinations.Protection against coronavirus infection diminishes somewhat just a few months after full vaccination, according to one study. As a reference point, the British researchers took the protective effect determined in their study one month after the second dose of vaccine, which, according to them, was…

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