Ad hoc statement: Coronavirus pandemic - rapid political action necessary

28/11/2021

Society of Virology (GfV)

and

German Society for Immunology (DGfI)

 

Joint ad hoc opinion - 28 November 2021

 

 

Coronavirus-Pandemie: Schnelles politisches Handeln notwendig

Die vierte Welle der Coronavirus-Pandemie stellt Deutschland erneut vor eine große Herausforderung, die konsequentes und schnelles Handeln erforderlich macht. Die Gesellschaft für Virologie (GfV) e.V. und die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Immunologie unterstützen gemeinsam ausdrücklich die Stellungnahme der Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina mit allen dort geforderten Maßnahmen[1].

In order to prevent a further spread of the highly contagious delta variant and the possibly even more contagious omicron variant, whose registration in Germany has now been confirmed, the measures cited by the Leopoldina, which are well justified in terms of content, are indispensable. These include in particular (1) comprehensive contact restrictions, (2) increasing the vaccination rate, if necessary by introducing compulsory vaccination as well as consistent booster vaccination, (3) special consideration of the situation of children and adolescents. It should be emphasised that closures of schools and day-care centres should be avoided as far as possible because of the consequences for children, families and society. To this end, other measures (wearing FFP2 masks, testing, vaccination if necessary) should be implemented consistently, while at the same time emphasising the personal responsibility of adults to protect themselves and others from harm by vaccinating themselves.

The overriding goal must be to reduce the number of infections and thus the number of hospitalisations to such an extent that regular hospital care and elective procedures can be carried out without restriction. If it is not possible to rigorously reduce the number of infections, a collapse of the inpatient healthcare system cannot be prevented.

According to current knowledge, the common PCR methods for detecting SARS-CoV-2 can also detect the omicron variant. Rapid antigen tests should also be suitable. The extent to which this is true is currently under review. PCR-based methods for the prompt detection of the variant should be used as widely as possible to enable rapid contact tracing and quarantine of infected persons. The Omikron variant, which has hardly been researched so far, also gives rise to new research questions that need to be clarified immediately in order to ensure science-led pandemic management. This also relates to clarifying the effectiveness of the vaccines used to date.

Die Gesellschaft für Virologie (GfV) e.V. und die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Immunologie sind gemeinsam mit der Leopoldina der Auffassung, dass unter sorgfältiger Abwägung aller gesellschaftlicher Werte sofortige konsequente Maßnahmen notwendig sind, um Bürgerinnen und Bürger in Deutschland vor schweren Folgen der Pandemie und einer Eskalation der aktuellen Infektionswelle zu bewahren.

 

Board of Directors and Advisory Board of Society of Virology

Board of the German Society for Immunology

 

[1] 10. Ad-hoc-Stellungnahme vom 27. November 2021; Coronavirus-Pandemie: Klare und konsequente Maßnahmen – sofort!

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