Category: General Interest

Covid-19 vaccine partially prevents SARS-CoV-2 infections, but is particularly effective in preventing severe illness during the pandemic. A new Israeli study now demonstrates the large effect on SARS-CoV-2 infections after a third partial vaccination with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Incidence decreases by 86 percent. For symptomatic Covid-19 infections, the mRNA vaccine was 95 percent effective, according to the large efficacy trial that led to approval by the FDA (U.S.) and EMA (EU) drug regulators. However, according to Tal Patalon (Maccabi Healthcare Services Tel Aviv) in the Journal of the American Medical…

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The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced Thursday it is launching an accelerated review process for approval of the Covid 19 vaccine from Austrian-French biotechnology company Valneva. The EU already ordered up to 60 million Corona vaccine doses from Valneva several weeks ago. When a decision on the inactivated vaccine will be made is still open, he said. Valneva’s inactivated vaccine contains killed components of the coronavirus for immunization. As such, it uses similar technology to traditional flu vaccines and is said to be able to be stored in normal refrigerators.…

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The neunerhaus health center in Vienna’s Margareten district — Margaretenstraße 166/1, 1050 Vienna – is offering vaccinations for homeless, homeless and uninsured people in December. On December 6 and 13, people there will receive the basic immunization or a booster vaccination with the vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer and, if desired, also the flu vaccination, according to a release. This campaign is supported by the City of Vienna and the Red Cross. Already in May 2021, 250 people were immunized over two days. In total, almost 750 homeless and uninsured people have…

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A survived Corona infection does not protect against infection with the new Omicron variant, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).“We think that previous infection does not protect against Omicron,” infectiologist Anne von Gottberg of South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said Thursday at a press conference hosted by the WHO Africa Regional Office. The question continues to be researched, the scientist said. However, initial observations suggest that people who have already been infected by Omicron could contract Covid-19 again. In that case, however, the symptoms are apparently…

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A decision on the end of the lockdown for vaccinated and recovered persons as of December 12 will be made by the Ministry of Health only next week.The forecasting consortium will provide an assessment of the coming days, it said. At present, infection incidence is declining, it said. How strong this development is pronounced and whether it is a sustainable trend reversal, however, will only be seen in the coming days, lets the Ministry of Health know. The development is being monitored and the next steps will be communicated next…

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At least eleven EU countries have reported the presence of the coronavirus variant Omicron so far.As the EU health agency ECDC wrote in an Omicron update, there were 59 recorded infected people by midday Wednesday. The Stockholm-based agency listed 16 cases in the Netherlands, 14 in Portugal and nine in Germany, Italy, Denmark (4 each), Sweden, Austria (3 each), Belgium, Spain (2 each) and the Czech Republic (1). In addition, there was one case on the island of Réunion, which belongs to France. It remained unclear whether the ECDC reports…

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Biontech CEO Ugur Şahin expects the existing vaccine to provide protection against severe disease even with the new Omicron virus mutation. “We think it is likely that vaccinated people will have significant protection against severe disease caused by Omicron,” Biontech CEO Ugur Şahin told Reuters news agency on Tuesday. He expects that this protection will be even more pronounced once people have received their third vaccination. Moderna chief executive Stephane Bancel had earlier warned to the Financial Times that existing vaccines against omicron are less effective. “There is no reason…

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News on the WHO response to Omicron: Its chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has underlined that WHO is taking the new variant of the coronavirus “extremely serious.” He was addressing ministers and diplomats from the 194 member countries attending a special WHO meeting on a possible global pandemic treaty. WHO subsequently shared its findings on Omicron to date in camera. Reason for lack of end to Corona pandemicAs long as the world allows the pandemic to drag on, developments such as the emergence of a new viral variant are not surprising,…

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On Monday, there were the first three confirmed cases of the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of coronavirus in Austria. No more were added on Tuesday. An overview to the provinces. In Tyrol, three people have contracted the mutation. In Upper Austria there are two, in Salzburg and Vorarlberg one suspected case each. There, the authorities are waiting for the sequencing of the AGES. In all other federal states, Omicron has not yet been detected. First Omicron case in the province of TyrolThe first case in Tyrol concerns a person who tested…

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