The Omikron variant is spreading extremely quickly – in Europe and also in Austria. By the end of calendar week 49, 86 cases in Austria had been confirmed by means of a PCR test or sequencing; in the past week alone, 211 were added. This means that by the end of calendar week 50 there were a total of 297 confirmed cases of the new variant.
It is only a matter of time before Omikron will become the dominant variant in Austria. “Omikron is just around the corner and will trigger a strong fifth wave” – this was confirmed by the scientists, wrote Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen yesterday evening after a round of talks with a number of experts on Twitter.
Virologists and medical professionals have been warning urgently for days to take action in good time. The German epidemiologist Hajo Zeeb, for example, warned of the force of a possible omicron wave. “The number of new infections and people in the hospital will probably exceed anything we have seen so far,” said the expert from the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology in Bremen.
Fourth vaccination
The Burgenland Governor Hans-Peter Doskozil would therefore like to focus on vaccination – and speaks in the interview today from a fourth dose of vaccination. “From my point of view, Omikron also means that we need a fourth vaccination, which will most likely come in March / April and is tailored to Omikron,” says Doskozil.
Since Omikron is a so-called immune escape variant and vaccinated or recovered people are more likely to be infected, a booster vaccination is recommended. This increases the antibody level many times over (25 times at Biontech, 37 times at Moderna), which can help as the first defense against Omikron.