Since midnight there has been a lockdown for unvaccinated people in Austria. But how long will such measures continue? An expert explains.
The fourth corona wave is currently rolling over Austria with full force. 600 patients have landed in the intensive care unit in the last ten days. Almost 11,900 new cases were registered nationwide within 24 hours. A lockdown for unvaccinated people therefore came into effect at midnight. But how long will it go on like this? Is a (near) end of the corona measures in sight? According to the vaccination expert Herwig Kollaritsch beautiful.
“We will have survived the pandemic if …”
“In the current situation, 65 percent vaccination quota is obviously not enough to give the infection numbers the damper we need to get a stable situation,” explains the 65-year-old, who is a member of the Austrian national vaccination committee, in the “Zeit in the picture “on Monday evening.
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Around three million Austrians have so far not been vaccinated. In order to bring the pandemic under control, it is necessary to make improvements. Because: “If we achieve a vaccination quota that is based on the example of Spain or Portugal, where we are at 85 to 90 percent, we have survived it. Then, I dare to say that today – and if a completely new virus variant does not appear – we are off the hook, “said the vaccination expert from the University of Vienna.
Vaccinations work much better than expected
When asked about the numerous breakthroughs in vaccination, the expert explains. “We said from the start that vaccinations would not protect 100 percent. But they are surprisingly effective for a new vaccine development, much better than expected,” said Kollaritsch, who also advocates vaccinations for pregnant women and small children.
The WHO initially set itself the goal of developing first-generation corona vaccines with more than 50 percent effectiveness – “we now have one of 90 percent against serious diseases, that’s unbelievable”.
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