When asked whether “we will ever live like we did before the pandemic,” the scientist from the Berlin Charité told the “Tagesspiegel am Sonntag”: “Yes, absolutely. I’m completely sure of that.”
Masks would have to be worn in certain situations for a few more years, which would be annoying. But there will also be “a few benefits”: The virus has advanced medicine. “The mRNA technology is a huge breakthrough, also for cancer and for other infectious diseases, just think of influenza.”
Drosten said that sooner or later everyone will have to become infected with Sars-Cov-2. “Yes, we have to get into this channel, there is no alternative,” he answered the relevant question. “In the long term, we cannot maintain the immune protection of the entire population with a booster vaccination every few months.” The virus has to do that. “The virus has to spread, but on the basis of vaccination protection that is anchored in the general population” – otherwise “too many people would die”. The weakened infection on the basis of vaccination is something like a moving train that you jump on. At some point you have to jump on it, otherwise you won’t get anywhere.”
“Far too many deaths from natural infections”
The good news is: At the moment, the train is moving pleasantly slowly, because Omikron has a reduced severity of the disease. When asked if he saw Omicron as an opportunity to get into the endemic state, the virologist said: “It would be an opportunity now, assuming broad immunity.” Especially since nobody can rule out that the train will become faster again.
Drosten said population immunity among adults is developing in a clear direction: “The population builds up immunity and keeps it.” Germany is now “in the process” of soon being able to declare the pandemic over and to declare the endemic phase. “But because of the high proportion of older people in the population, we have to do this in Germany with vaccinations. Far too many people would die from natural infections,” Drosten told the newspaper. Germany has already “managed quite a bit of this path via vaccinations”, but now “must come to an end so that we can enter the endemic phase in the course of 2022 and declare the pandemic situation over”.
Drosten sees a “live vaccination” with a weakened virus or a modern variant of it as the “next milestone” in the fight against the corona virus. “You would have to put it in your nose and then trigger mucosal immunity. That would be much better protection against transmission, it would be the next milestone.”
Next winter, however, he expects another sharp increase in the incidence. “And we will probably have to wear masks indoors again because the protection against transmission will drop a little again and the vulnerable in the population will have to be protected.”
Source: Nachrichten
