In the fight against Corona, both countries with a high vaccination rate and those with a lower vaccination rate have problems. This is shown by the cases of Denmark and Great Britain.
In Denmark, the number of new corona infections every day is reaching new highs despite a vaccination rate of 78 percent. On Tuesday, 8314 new corona cases were added to the list of the state institute SSI, which is updated daily. That was once again a higher daily value than the record of the previous day, when there were 7799 detected new infections. The number of infections is now around four times as high as at the beginning of November.
In addition, the Omikron variant of the coronavirus is also gaining ground in Denmark. As of Monday, 3,437 omicron cases had been recorded in the country, including 268 confirmed by whole genome sequencing and 3169 detected by variant PCR testing. The SSI assumes that Omikron will become the dominant variant, at least in the capital region of Copenhagen, in the course of this week. At the same time, the institute expects more than 10,000 Omicron cases per day. Denmark was considered a model for many European countries because of its voluntary vaccination discipline.
In Great Britain, the proportion of the Omikron variant, which only recently appeared in South Africa, is said to be 20 percent, according to the national health safety authority UKHSA. The agency estimates that around 200,000 people are newly infected every day. The head of medicine at the pharmaceutical manufacturer Moderna, Paul Burton, said that in the future it was also conceivable that the Delta variant and Omikron exist side by side and that double infections are also possible. Pfizer said they had the latest studies that a booster vaccination offered 70 percent protection against hospitalization for Omikron. The vaccination rate in the UK is around 70 percent. The logistics for the booster vaccinations are difficult, however, because in Great Britain vaccinations were predominantly with Astrazeneca. However, Astrazeneca does not offer boosters, which is why the government now has to buy from Biontech / Pfizer and Moderna. One of the problems is the surprisingly short effectiveness of the vaccines. This applies to both the mRNA vaccines and the Astrazeneca vector vaccine.
Due to the rapid spread of the Omikron variant, the British government wants to abandon its loose course, among other things, expand the mask requirement and allow access to nightclubs and larger events only under 3G rules.
In view of the situation, England has for the time being said goodbye to the mandatory hotel quarantine that had previously applied to some travelers. As of Wednesday (4 a.m. local time), all eleven remaining countries – South Africa and other African countries – would be removed from the so-called red list, said British Health Minister Sajid Javid on Tuesday in the London House of Commons. Since Omikron is already spreading rapidly in the country, the measure is no longer suitable to significantly prevent the spread. The rest of the UK have their own entry rules. (with AFP)