“It is absolutely possible that after the current wave flattens out, delta will come back,” said Ulrike Protzer, head of the Institute for Virology at the Technical University of Munich, the newspapers of the Funke media group (Monday editions). “We cannot be sure that Omicron will replace Delta.”
Immunity according to Omicron is different
The immunity after an omicron infection is “a bit different” than after a delta infection. “But if you’ve been vaccinated and then maybe had an additional infection, the immune system can deal well with new variants that could come up now,” Protzer told the Funke newspapers. In risk groups, however, it should be considered whether a fourth vaccination dose is necessary in the fall. The data from Israel, where the fourth dose vaccination campaign is currently underway, could help with the assessment.
Gérard Krause, epidemiologist at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in Braunschweig, was also skeptical: “I don’t share the euphoria that Omicron is now leading us to endemics,” Krause told the newspapers. “We don’t know what variants are still to come that may bypass immunity and also lead to severe courses.” Due to decreasing vaccination protection and infections with one or the other variant, many people have “partial immunity”, but that doesn’t help against every variant equally well.
“Prevent Worst Damage”
The question of when the pandemic will be over is primarily a question of how to deal with the pathogen, said Krause. “How many diseases are we willing to accept, how many can we prevent and at what price” – there must be social understanding on these questions. This is not a purely medical question, but a broad consideration.
In Austria, too, experts are discussing the omicron variant.
Dealing with the regular flu waves can serve as a guide: “The goal must be to prevent the worst damage and to protect the weakest,” said the epidemiology expert. “As a society, we are obviously willing to accept the losses of a mid-fluenza season.”
As a pandemic spreads across countries and continents, diseases or pathogens that are persistent and cumulative in a limited region or part of the population are considered endemic. In the case of SARS-Cov-2, going endemic means the virus stays – people have to live with it, but it becomes less dangerous for the general population.