The virus has armed itself, that was to be feared. Right at the beginning of the vaccination campaign, experts from the EU Commission wrote a strategy paper in which they pointed out the risk of an “escape mutation” that would undermine the protection provided by vaccines.
Has the worst-case variant now become a reality in the form of Omikron? We don’t know yet. But according to all that is known, the new variant carries mutations that act like a cloaking device and allow the virus to get past the human immune defense even more easily.
No wonder that the European governments are alarmed and that the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen warns: “It is now important that we all act quickly, decisively and in unity in Europe.” the circulation of the pathogen in a population that is increasingly vaccinated or has recovered.
But there is also reason to be optimistic: Natural virus selection is now faced with a high-performance vaccination industry. The virus has armed itself, but Europe has it too.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
“We are now producing 300 million vaccine doses a month, and the number is growing, so that we will soon be able to deliver four billion doses a year,” assured EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton. As understandable as the concern of experiencing a nightmarish déjà vu during the pandemic, of having to endure new curfews and travel restrictions, the EU is prepared, at least industrially.
300 million vaccine doses are now produced in the EU every month.
(Photo: dpa)
When the first vaccines were approved a year ago, there was initially no one in Europe who could manufacture them. Production capacities had to be laboriously built up – which was achieved in record time despite the difficulties of importing critical components such as filters and bioreactors from countries such as the USA. In order to provide the entire EU population with a booster vaccination, a monthly production of the European vaccine manufacturers is sufficient today.
There was only one bottleneck that the task force could not overcome: the lack of common sense. The defiantly ignorant refusal of a number of Europeans to be vaccinated is outrageous, especially when you consider how privileged Europe is internationally.
Half of humanity has not yet received a dose. The global omicron alarm is now making it clear how dangerous this imbalance is, even for rich countries. The variant was detected for the first time in South Africa, where so far only 24 percent of the population have been fully vaccinated.
Africa needs to build production facilities
Two things must now be done in the fight against the pandemic: The vaccination gap must be closed as quickly as possible, otherwise the virus will continue to upgrade evolutionarily. What succeeded in building production facilities in Europe must also succeed in African countries such as South Africa, Senegal and Rwanda. The EU has promised to support African vaccine hubs, and it is high time to deliver on that promise.
Second, the circulation of the virus must be restricted further, including with contact restrictions. Nowhere is this so urgent at the moment as in Central and Eastern Europe. Of course, the aim is to relieve hospitals and prevent a regional collapse of the intensive care units. But it is also about slowing down evolution and preventing the creation of more and more new variants.
More: Biontech is working on omicron analysis and vaccine adaptation at the same time