The German Association of General Practitioners has called for clear recommendations from the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) on the new corona vaccines. “The fact that adapted vaccines are now available is very positive news,” said the federal chairman of the association, Ulrich Weigeldt, of the Düsseldorf “Rheinische Post” (Wednesday). “The communicative chaos surrounding the various adapted vaccines is less nice.”
Patients are wondering whether it makes sense to be vaccinated with the BA.1-adapted vaccine in early September, or whether to wait for the BA.4/BA.5-adapted vaccine, Weigeldt said. “Here, a clear recommendation from Stiko is needed very promptly, which the general practitioners can also use as a guide.” So far there is no information about this.
On Monday, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) announced deliveries of a vaccine adapted to the virus variant BA.1 for the beginning of September. An EU-wide approval is still pending, but is expected.
The President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, called this “good news” in the newspapers of the Funke Mediengruppe (Wednesday). The manufacturers’ clinical studies showed that the adapted vaccine produced significantly more antibodies against omicron and thus the immune protection could be increased.
“But the best vaccine doesn’t help if it stays put,” said Reinhardt. Older people and patients with immunodeficiency and severe previous illnesses should be vaccinated quickly for a fourth time, even if further new vaccines against the BA.4 and BA.5 variants are expected to be approved in a few weeks, Reinhardt recommended. Stiko must assess whether young, healthy people should also increase their immune protection by vaccination with the new BA.1 or BA.4/BA.5 vaccines.
