Despite all the vaccination successes, Saarland Minister of Health Monika Bachmann (CDU) is “with concern” about the next few weeks in the corona pandemic. The development and impact of the omicron variant, which can be seen in other countries, "must make us look even more carefully," said the minister on Tuesday (December 28, 2021) in Saarbrücken. "We want to prevent rapid spread in Germany, especially in Saarland."
So far 14 confirmed omicron cases in Saarland
The Delta variant is currently still predominant in Saarland. So far, 14 cases of the omicron variant have been detected. "It's anything but reassuring," she said. Other cases are being investigated. Where do the cases come from? "From Metz to Dubai, everything is included." So far, there have been almost two million vaccinations against Corona in Saarland.
Lehr expects a “relatively strong increase” in the numbers
The expert for corona forecasts, Thorsten Lehr, said that he expected “relatively strong increases” in infections after the turn of the year. It looks like the spread of the Omicron variant has been slowed down somewhat by the latest 2G measures. "But it will come in the new year when the students go back to school, then I expect at the latest that we will see relatively strong increases in numbers again."
Situation in hospitals currently "relaxed"
The situation in the Saarland hospitals is currently “relaxed”, said State Secretary for Health Stephan Kolling (CDU). 50 intensive care beds are currently free, 18 percent of the intensive care beds are occupied by Covid patients. As a precaution, it was ordered that hospitals with emergency care had to keep 40 percent of the intensive care capacities free. And five rehabilitation clinics were designated as substitute hospitals if the clinics “overflowed”.
Lehr: Don't sit back now
Lehr said it is important to prepare critical infrastructure in the event of a major spread of omicron. "Even if we have few cases of hospitalization, there is a possibility that we will have a large number of cases at once," said the Saarbrücken professor of clinical pharmacy. If things are going well and the numbers have gone down, you shouldn't "lean back".
Saarland in first place for booster vaccinations
With a vaccination rate of 77.1 percent for fully vaccinated people, Saarland is still in second place after Bremen, according to the Robert Koch Institute. When it comes to the number of people vaccinated with booster vaccinations, which amounts to 43.4 percent (as of Tuesday), Germany, the smallest country, is in first place.
Less than one percent vaccine breakthroughs
According to the Homburg virologist Jürgen Rissland, around 5,000 vaccination breakthroughs have been reported in Saarland so far - this means: people fell ill despite vaccination. With a total of almost two million vaccinations, this is less than one percent. About 200 people with vaccination breakthroughs had to be hospitalized, he said.
Lauer: Leave vaccination centers open all year round
The district administrator of the Saarlouis district, Patrick Lauer (SPD), said that the management staff in his administration were working "feverly" to prepare for the "huge challenge" of Omikron. He advocated leaving the vaccination centers in the country permanently open - completely in 2022, maybe until spring 2023. "We don't know what else is in store for us. We have the topic of omicrons, we have general vaccination requirements and we may have the next variant in the autumn.”
Sources used: – German Press Agency
