Virus World

Background The effect of the BioNTech-Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccination in the elderly (>=80 years) could not be fully assessed in the BioNTech-Pfizer trial due to low numbers in this age group. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the BioNTech-Pfizer (BNT162b2) vaccine to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe outcomes in octo- and novo-generians in a German state setting. Methods and Findings A prospective observational study of 708,187 persons aged >=80 years living in Bavaria, Germany, was conducted between Jan 9 to Apr 11, 2021. We assessed the vaccine efficacy (VE) for two doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine with respect to SARS-CoV-2 infection and related hospitalisations and mortality. Additionally, differences in VE by age groups >=80 to <=89 years and >=90 years were studied. Analyses were adjusted by sex. By the end of follow-up, 63.8% of the Bavarian population ≥80 years had received one dose, and 52.7% two doses, of the BNT162b2 vaccine. Two doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine lowered the proportion of SARS-CoV-2 infections and related outcomes, resulting in VE estimates of 68.3% (95% confidence interval (CI) 65.5%, 70.9%) for infection, 73.2% (95% CI 65.3%, 79.3%) for hospitalisation, and 80.1% (95% CI 80.0%, 89.0%) for mortality. Sex differences in the risk of COVID-19 outcomes observed among unvaccinated persons disappeared after two BNT162b2 vaccine doses. Overall, the BNT162b2 vaccine was equally efficacious in octo- and novo-genarians. Conclusions Two doses of BioNTech-Pfizers BNT162b2 vaccine is highly effective against COVID-19 outcomes in elderly persons.

Preprint available in medRxiv (August 21, 2021):

https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.19.21262266 

“Immunity passports” for key workers could be a way of getting people who have had coronavirus back into the workforce more quickly, scientists and politicians in the UK have suggested. Researchers in Germany are currently preparing a mass study into how many people are already immune to the Covid-19 virus, allowing authorities to eventually issue passes to exclude workers from restrictive measures currently in place.

The study, which is yet to finalise funding, would involve testing the blood of more than 100,000 volunteers for coronavirus antibodies from mid-April. The test would then be repeated at regular intervals on an accumulatively larger sample of the population, to track the pandemic’s progress. The shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said: “Germany appears to be leading the way in the testing and we have much to learn from their approach. I’ve repeatedly called for more testing and contact tracing in the UK, and we should be looking at initiatives like this closely.”

The results of the German study, organised by the government’s public health body, the Robert Koch Institute, the German Centre for Infection Research, the Institute for Virology at Berlin’s Charite hospital and blood donation services, would make it easier to decide when and where schools in the country could reopen, and which people are safe to go back to work. “Those who are immune could be issued with a kind of vaccination pass that would for example allow them to exempted from restrictions on their activity,” said Gerard Krause, head of epidemiology at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig. The German government has not yet officially commented on the proposal for such a certificate made by scientists....

Red Cross nurse Antje T, 39, (pictured in court) jabbed thousands of patients at a vaccine centre in Germany with saline instead of the BioNTech Pfizer vaccine. An anti-vaxxer nurse who injected up to 8,600 elderly people with saline solution instead of a Covid-19 vaccine has walked free from court. Red Cross nurse Antje T, 39, jabbed thousands of elderly patients at a vaccine centre in Germany with what she told them was the BioNTech Pfizer vaccine but was just a saltwater solution. The nurse, who administered the fake vaccines at the Schortens jab centre in Friesland, northwest Germany, was given just six months on probation. She was found guilty of six counts of intentional assault by Oldenburg District Court, Lower Saxony state, on November 30. Antje T jabbed up to 8,600 patients who were mainly hospital employees, educators and doctors above the age of 70 between March 5 and April 2021, leaving them with no protection against the deadly virus. Police told the court that she was able to introduce the saline solution undetected, because she was in charge of vaccine and syringe preparation during her shift at the vaccination centre. But after more than a month she was reported by another employee who saw her use the saline solution instead of the vaccine on six patients on April 21, 2021.

The 39-year-old had additionally posted several social media posts where she openly emphasized her skeptical views regarding COVID-19 vaccines. When questioned by police, she admitted to using saline solution but had said she only did it because she had accidentally broken a vial containing six shots and was ashamed to tell her colleagues. She had also claimed that it was a one-time incident, but was immediately sacked after antibody tests that were carried out on the affected people confirmed authorities' suspicions. In addition, Antje T's licence to work as a nurse has been revoked, media reported. Following the incident, state authorities urged the fraud victims to register for revaccination and emphasised that it is completely safe. Antje T in turn was initially charged with 15 counts of intentional assault at the beginning of the trial in November 2022, but nine of them were dropped due to no evidence. Court spokesperson Torben Toelle said that the prosecutor found evidence that six syringes were changed for saline, leading to the charges, but that they expect this was done to many more. During the trial on November 30, the shamed nurse apologised in court. Concerning the defendant's anti-vaxxer posts on social media, Toelle added: 'The accused had shared various conspiracy theories on the Internet and on social media. 'However, the chamber could not determine with the necessary certainty that this set of ideas was the motive for her actions and that she then acted to sabotage a vaccination campaign.' The verdict can reportedly be appealed within a week.

Just days after Angela Merkel loosens restrictions, the virus reproduction rate rises above 1. This means the number of infections is now rising in the country. The report came as thousands of Germans gathered on Saturday calling for a total end to the lockdown. Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a broad relaxation of national restrictions on Wednesday after talks with the leaders of Germany's 16 states. 

All shops are allowed to reopen, pupils will gradually return to class and the Bundesliga - Germany's top football league - will restart as soon as next weekend. But there were protests across the country on Saturday, as some called for measures to be lifted even quicker. Germany has the seventh-highest number of confirmed cases in the world, with latest RKI data on Sunday showing the reported infected tally at 169,218 and a reported death toll of 7,395.

How many people have really been infected by the coronavirus? In one German town a preliminary answer is in: about 14%. The municipality of Gangelt, near the border with the Netherlands, was hard hit by covid-19 after a February carnival celebration drew thousands to the town, turning it into an accidental petri dish. Now, after searching blood from 500 residents for antibodies to the virus, scientists at a nearby university say they have determined that one in seven have been infected and are therefore “immune.” Some of those people would have had no symptoms at all. Their brief report (PDF), posted online in German, has big implications for how soon that town, and the rest of the world, can come out from lockdown. 

“To me it looks like we don’t yet have a large fraction of the population exposed,” says Nicholas Christakis, a doctor and social science researcher at Yale University. “They had carnivals and festivals, but only 14% are positive. That means there is a lot more to go even in a hard-hit part of Germany.” Here's why the true infection rate in a region matters: the bigger it is, the less pain still lies ahead. Eventually, when enough people are immune—maybe half to three-quarters of us—the virus won’t be able to spread further, a concept called herd immunity. But the German town isn’t close to that threshold yet, and to Christakis the preliminary figure is “unfortunate” because it means the virus still has more damage to do.

The German report is among the first to survey a population for evidence of prior infection, data that scientists need to determine how far the pandemic has spread, what the real death rate is, and how many people show no symptoms at all. “It’s very preliminary, but it’s the kind of study we desperately need,” says Christakis, who believes the US should test as many as 200,000 people, from big cities like New York to small towns in the Midwest. “This is crucial to quantify a host of basic parameters.”