Russian researchers warn of the next corona waves. Even with falling incidences, the virus is still present. Vaccination and booster vaccinations against Covid are therefore “necessary for several years to come”. This is what Anatoly Altshtein from the Gamaleya Central Research Institute for Epidemiology and Microbiology says, the Russian state news agency Tass. The institute developed the Russian corona vaccine Sputnik V. Altsheim: “The virus persists, even if the incidence decreases. That is why we have to be vaccinated every six months for the next few years.”
Regarding the current increase in the incidence in Russia, the expert said that this was “quite predictable”. And further: “Another wave has reached us. It’s not very strong, but it’s swept across the globe.” Morbidity has increased. As a statistical parameter in epidemiology, morbidity is the ratio of the number of sick people to that of the entire living population. It thus provides information about the incidence of disease in relation to a specific population group.
The BA.5 variant, the BA.4 and BA.2 variants and the Centaurus strain are given as the reason for the worldwide increase according to Russian scientists. “The new Omicron variants are responsible for the increase in incidence,” explained the expert. Altshtein also expects that “increasing tendencies will be seen in the next few weeks”.
“New coronavirus variants are more contagious”
The new coronavirus variants are not deadly, most patients showed “mild forms of the disease”. At the same time, the new variants are more contagious. The scientist also makes it clear: “The virus is not going away”.
The state anti-coronavirus crisis center in Russia announced on Wednesday that for the first time since April 22, more than 9000 corona cases were confirmed in one day. In Moscow alone, 3,673 cases were identified on Wednesday. That is more registered cases than since February 26th.
Kremlin: Vaccination opponents are “dangerous lunatics”
At the end of last year, the Kremlin had clearly positioned itself against people who refused a corona vaccination. People who refuse to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and who would also actively try to get others to refuse the Covid vaccination are “dangerously insane”. Dimitri Peskov, the press spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said this in his own special program on Covid-19 on Russian television.
