Category: General Interest

Currently, about 70.9 percent of people in Austria have valid vaccination protection against the coronavirus, meaning their vaccination certificate has not yet expired. However, the validity period of these certificates has been repeatedly shortened in recent months in the wake of new findings on the required immune protection and the emergence of new virus variants. As of February 1, the vaccination certificates are only valid for six months after the second sting; previously, they were valid for nine months. This could invalidate nearly 900,000 vaccination certificates. But even before the…

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Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla says the new Omicron vaccine is ready. It could be delivered starting in March, he said, but questions remain. Shortly after the new coronavirus variant became known, pharmaceutical companies BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca began preparing for possible adaptation of their vaccines. Now there appear to be early results. “The Omicron vaccine will be ready to see in March,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla announced on CNBC. He also said the U.S. company has already begun manufacturing the doses. The vaccine will also target the other variants in…

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The 2G controls in stores will start on Tuesday. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) announced an intensification of Covid controls by the police at a press conference in Vienna on Monday. The “Aktion Scharf” should be at the same time an “action fairness” to the overwhelming part of the population who adhere to the Corona protection measures. For the “strengthened control pressure” are to provide readiness units as well as policemen and policewomen in civilian clothes. For the trade there will be recommendations for action, “how controls can be implemented…

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Cypriot researchers have discovered 25 cases of a corona strain that combines elements of the delta and omicron variants – “deltakron.” While Austria is currently struggling with the Omicron variant – numbers are rising rapidly, with authorities reporting 10,291 new infections on Sunday – more bad news reaches us from Cyprus: Researchers discovered a new variant that has Omicron-like genetic features in Delta genomes. 25 delta crone cases in CyprusLeondios Kostrikis, professor of biological sciences at the University of Cyprus and head of the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Molecular Virology,…

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Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein wants to prevent another lockdown. However, the decisive “marker” will no longer be the occupancy of intensive care units, but rather that of normal wards, he said in an APA interview. Mückstein pointed out that the probability of a hospital admission is up to 50 percent lower with Omicron than with the Delta variant: with Delta, one out of four admitted patients ends up in the intensive care unit; with Omicron, the ratio is only 1:10. And: with the Delta variant, about 20 percent of intensive…

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After two and a half weeks of Christmas vacation, school starts again on Monday. A “safety period” continues to apply until the end of February: compulsory attendance thus remains suspended, and parents can excuse their children even without a doctor’s certificate. At school there are Corona tests three times a week, one of which (from 17 January only two) must be a PCR test. A mask (FFP2 from the upper school) must be worn throughout the school building and also in class. The procedure for corona cases remains unchanged: In…

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Greece is requiring a negative PCR test or rapid test prior to travel starting today. This applies to all travelers five years of age and older arriving in Greece as of 6:00 a.m. local time today, regardless of whether or not they have been vaccinated. The negative PCR test must be no more than 72 hours old and the rapid test 24 hours old at the time of arrival. This regulation will initially be in effect until January 24. Travelers to Greece must also continue to register before traveling. In…

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The “safety phase” at schools, originally planned to end on January 15, will be extended until February 28. This was stated by the Ministry of Education in a decree to the schools. This means that compulsory attendance will remain suspended. In addition, regardless of vaccination status, testing will be carried out at least three times a week, masks must be worn throughout the school building and also during lessons (up to lower school mouth-nose protection, from upper school FFP2 mask). In this way, “attendance is to be maintained as a…

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Booster vaccinations against the coronavirus offer seniors a high level of protection against a severe course, even in the case of infection with the Omicron variant, according to a recent analysis. Three months after the third vaccination, the protection against hospitalization is around 90 percent, according to the British health authority UKHSA at the beginning of the weekend. After only two doses of vaccination, the protection against severe courses three months after vaccination is about 70 percent, after six months still at 50 percent. Protection against corona infection with mild…

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