The broad relaxations are not viewed without concern in the Corona Commission. In view of the Omikron variant, as can be seen from the internal protocol available to the APA, the situation is expected to deteriorate soon. The “respite” shown in the forecasts will probably be a short one, the Director General for Public Health, Katharina Reich, is quoted as saying.
Several commission members also refer to the critical situation in the intensive care units despite the falling number of infections. The assessment of the Upper Austrian representative in the committee sounds particularly drastic. So many operations have been postponed that it will be extremely difficult to catch up on them in full.
The assessment of a representative of Gesundheit Österreich GmbH gives further gloomy prospects. The first models showed that from the second half of January the first effects up to significant impairments from Omikron can be expected: “According to these calculations, it is possible that at this point in time the workload in the intensive care units is still too high to allow another one To be able to cope with the wave of infections. ” This is a scenario to be taken seriously.
The representative of Salzburg questioned the extent to which a rapid booster vaccination would make sense for young people who were only given the opportunity to have an initial vaccination later. First data show that the available vaccines are significantly less effective than Omikron, and pharmaceutical companies have already announced that their vaccines will be adjusted. In return, Reich pointed out that there was still no EMA recommendation regarding booster vaccination for adolescents. The National Vaccination Board will devote itself to this question again next week.
Much criticized, with the first out of the lockdown, Vorarlberg said goodbye on Sunday, although it is the only federal state that remains above the critical mark of 33 percent intensive occupancy according to the forecast. This was justified by the local commission representative with the cross-border mobility in the Lake Constance area. The lockdown therefore had little effect.