It has now been 1000 days since the first Dutch person was infected with corona and the autumn wave seems to be ending in fiasco. EenVandaag asked what you wanted to know about corona. Virologist Marjolein Kikkert responds.
1. It seems that the crown no longer exists. What measures can we regret in retrospect?
“It’s mostly about keeping an eye on things, like we’re doing now. In the almost 3 years that we’ve been further along, we’ve gotten a pretty clear picture of what’s happening in society and what impact it is of what happens. This is still uncertain, but a balance remains between the disruption of society and the consequences of not acting.”
“It remains a bet that now we’re not trying very hard to keep the number of infections to a minimum. But we don’t anymore, because we think the consequences for people who have been infected have now become milder and we want that to disrupt society.” .
“And if you’ve done everything to minimize the risk of the virus, you may have to be locked down all the time. And that’s not realistic. We don’t want that, because then society will be upset. So it’s always about balance. “
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2. The number of deaths is rising in China. Should we also account for a block?
“The situation in China is very different from here. The tougher measures they think they need are related to the fact that people in China have had little exposure to the virus.”
“You could say they lag behind the balance between humanity and the virus. China has been ‘locked down’ so hard all this time that there are still many people who can get infected and get sick. We’ve already passed that phase and with us there is less chance of things getting out of hand.”
3. Does the latest vaccination reduce the risk of getting sick?
“All forms of immunity keep you from getting seriously ill. This applies to all forms of exposure to the virus, whether through natural infections or vaccinations. And the more exposure, the better your body can deal with the virus, the faster you lose it. new and the less you will be bad.”
“Each booster gives your immune system an extra boost.”
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4. Why wait 3 months after corona confirmation for a repeat injection and not if you were unnoticed sick?
“The idea was that if you’ve just had corona, then you’re so protected against the corona virus that you don’t need that injection. And even that injection will do little, because it makes you naturally immune. It was mostly about that not vaccinate unnecessarily, so as not to waste vaccinations”.
“But the delicate thing is that not all infections are measured, because some people are not tested. And then it is not clear and therefore difficult to decide whether these are unnecessary vaccinations. The only thing you can do is ask people who they know they are infected to wait a bit with their vaccination”.
“It’s mostly a control issue. And it’s not a problem or a danger if you get infected with the corona virus while you’ve just had a vaccination. But it’s not necessary.”
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5. Do you still have to be quarantined and can your roommates go to work/school?
“The advice to stay at home if you test positive is still there. But it is no longer a rule. And the roommates no longer have to stay at home, but there is the advice to stay away from each other”.
“That advice is there to ensure that someone who is infected infects others as little as possible. Because it’s still possible that there are people who can become very ill.”
“The question is whether it is still necessary to stay home for 5 days if you test positive. Many people have developed a good form of immunity through previous natural infections or vaccinations. They can test positive, but the virus is more likely to be 5 days away” .
“So you test every day and if you have two negative self-tests, I would say you can quit again, because the chance of infecting anyone else has gotten very low.”
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6. Is it safe to fly?
“Especially on long flights there is a significantly higher risk of virus infection. And if you are someone for whom an infection is a problem, I would be careful. In an airplane, air is scarce and circulation is needed for sufficient oxygen” . But that’s not outside air, it’s not cooled. And that’s a problem. As a result, there is a relatively higher risk of infections.”
“It makes a big difference whether you’re on a long or short flight. Because the older you are in such an environment, the higher the chance of infection, and the bigger the plane, the higher the chance that someone, knowingly or unknowingly, brings the virus.”
“But it mostly depends on your situation. What is the outcome of an infection for you? And you can try to protect yourself with a face mask, but you can’t prevent an infection 100% with that.”
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7. What have we learned in dealing with a pandemic?
“Especially that we as humanity also have enemies in the form of this type of virus. And we’ve learned that it’s quite difficult to prepare properly if something like this suddenly starts.”
“Now we’ve experienced it up close and we know that preparation is really important when you see the huge impact it has. It used to be difficult because it was so unpredictable.”
“And we’ve learned that things like this are inevitable. It happens from time to time. It’s always been that way in human history and it always will be. But now we know a lot more about infections and we’ve made it through it. And I’m convinced that that knowledge has made a big difference, we can act quickly, but we can do better.”
