Published: Just now
The pandemic in Germany is over and has turned into an endemic, says the country’s leading virologist Christian Drosten. But he defends the measures taken during the pandemic.
After this winter, the immunity of the German people will be so widespread and resistant that the virus will hardly be able to get through this summer, believes Christian Drosten, chief virologist at the Charité hospital in Berlin.
– This winter we are experiencing the first endemic wave of sars-cov-2. In my opinion, the pandemic is over, he tells Der Tagesspiegel.
The only exception could be if another mutation of the virus occurs.
– But I don’t expect that either at the moment.
Vaccination essential
According to Drosten, vaccination has been crucial in fighting the pandemic in Germany and other European countries. Germany also introduced severe restrictions, especially at the beginning of the pandemic, with, among other things, closed schools, restaurants, cultural institutions and requirements for covid tests and mouth protection. Drosten defends the measures taken to limit the spread of infection.
– It was never about stopping the pandemic. It was clear from the start that it was not possible. But if nothing had been done at all, in Germany, in the waves of the delta variant, a million or more would have died. So you had to reduce contacts.
China was wrong
Regarding the situation in China, where the spread of infection is galloping after the country relaxed its strict zero-covid policy, Drosten believes that it was above all the vaccination that went wrong.
– The big mistake in China was that there was no awareness of vaccination among the population, especially among the elderly, he says.