Virologist Drosten: "We must override regulations for vaccines"

A study from London predicts high death rates for the Covid 19 epidemic. Virologist Drosten asks that unusual measures be considered.

by Barbara Gillmann 19.03.2020 - 07:07

Berlin The Berlin virologist Christian Drosten demands that "even unusual options" be considered in the fight against Covid-19. "If we want to make it without increased death rates among the elderly, we must override regulations for the development of vaccines," he said in his NDR podcast on Wednesday. 

Instead of just waiting until a vaccine is available perhaps in a year's time, he said, one should instead consider "using an existing vaccine now, which has already been clinically tested for the old Sars-virus". The Sars-virus had appeared in 2002/03 and had killed about a thousand people in China. The new Covid-19 is very closely related to it. 

Given the situation, "we have to accept a small risk," said Drosten, referring to possible side effects of a vaccine that does not go through the usual phases of clinical trials. "The state would then have to be liable for such a risk," demanded the head of virology at the Charité hospital in Berlin. This would have to be considered very carefully, but "we have to start the thinking process among the experts now".

Drosten justified his extraordinary proposal primarily with the study on Covid-19 published a few days ago by the renowned Imperial College London. The institute's model calculations for the USA and Great Britain conclude that even with an "optimal containment strategy" at the peak of the epidemic, about eight times as many intensive care beds with artificial respiration would be needed as are currently available in the USA and Great Britain.

And "even if all patients could be treated, according to our projections there would still be about 250,000 deaths in the UK and 1.1 to 1.2 million in the US," the scientists' paper states. It was based on a scenario in which all cases are isolated, all infected people and their families live in strict quarantine for 14 days and older people over 70 are sealed off.

Results of the study transferable?

Drosten described the study of the British virologists as "very important" and "definitely transferable to Germany". Great Britain is very similar to Germany, even though German intensive care medicine is very well positioned and ventilation capacities are very high. "The prospects are really desperate," he said. 

The London study indirectly allows the conclusion that further restrictions on public life, especially the closure of schools and universities as in Germany, would make the fight against the epidemic "much more efficient". "But then you have to hold out for five months," said Drosten.

And "even then the virus returns as a winter wave". Theoretically, the system of social distancing could be "switched on and off again and again" depending on the development of the number of cases - which in turn "would then have to last for two years".

Translated Version - original here