News about Corona from April 18, 2023
WHO: Covid vaccines saved over a million lives in Europe
Monday, April 17, 00:03: According to a scientific estimate, corona vaccines have saved more than a million lives in Europe and countries of the former Soviet Union since the end of 2020. This emerges from a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) published on Monday. This number was calculated on the basis of the number of deaths and the doses of vaccine administered in 26 countries. According to the report, more than two million people have died of Covid-19 in the WHO region of Europe since the outbreak of the corona pandemic around three years ago.
The effectiveness of the vaccines was weighted differently depending on the prevailing corona variant for the respective waves of the pandemic. Indirect effects of the vaccinations were not taken into account. Most of the people (96 percent) saved by the vaccines were older than 60, according to the report. A particularly large number of deaths could be prevented during the omicron wave. The number of lives saved by vaccination during this phase was estimated at almost 570,000.
The WHO’s Director of Division for Europe, Richard Pebody, called on unvaccinated people to be protected. “We see through our research the large number of lives that have been saved by the Covid-19 vaccines across Europe during the pandemic,” Pebody said in a statement.
The Europe region of the World Health Organization comprises 53 countries, including the member states of the European Union and the European Economic Area, Russia and several countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
WHO speaks of a “milestone”: Africa is about to produce its own corona vaccine
5:16 p.m.: According to experts, a milestone for global health policy is imminent in Africa with the start of its own Covid vaccine production. A technology transfer center is to be opened in Cape Town on Thursday, according to the Medicines Patent Pool on Friday evening. The Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Ghebreyesus, is also expected at the seat of the South African Parliament.
According to the UN organization, the South African biotech company Afrigen is now starting “extensive vaccine production”. This is the first technology transfer program in the world to produce mRNA vaccines against Covid-19 and similar viruses. This is an important milestone for developing countries.
In Africa, vaccination against the corona virus progressed the slowest of all continents. Two years ago, the WHO announced the establishment of “technology transfer centers” for mRNA vaccines; The aim is to empower low- and middle-income countries to be able to produce their own vaccines. At that time, Petro Terblanche, Managing Director of Afrigen, emphasized with a view to the corona pandemic: “We have the skills and knowledge and also an emerging economy on the continent. So there is no reason why we should go through this ordeal again.”
Furthermore, numerous procedures because of earlier Corona-Measures
09.10 a.m.: Proceedings relating to the corona pandemic are still being dealt with by administrative courts in Schleswig-Holstein. There are still around 15 cases pending at the administrative court in Schleswig relating to the “Corona emergency aid” complex, as the court announced at the request of the German Press Agency. The procedures primarily relate to payments to companies due to a liquidity shortage that threatens their existence for three and in exceptional cases a maximum of five months as well as the so-called November Aid 2020.
In addition, 75 other corona-related procedures were ongoing. According to the information, the majority of these are claims for compensation with which employers assert claims for reimbursement against the State Office for Social Services. This is about wage payments for periods in which the employees were in officially ordered quarantine. In addition, there are lawsuits from second home owners who object to the ban on use at the beginning of the 2020 corona pandemic and corresponding lawsuits against company closures.
At the Higher Administrative Court, 30 corona-related proceedings are still open, in which complaints were lodged against state regulations in the first instance.
Saxony still has around 9800 cans Corona-Vaccine in stock
Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 09:18: According to the Ministry of Health, around 9,800 vaccine doses were still stored in Saxony after the end of the state corona vaccination campaign. These are exclusively vaccines from Johnson & Johnson, as the ministry announced on request. However, their shelf life expires at the end of April at the latest. If the vaccines were not used by then, they would be professionally destroyed, it said.
The last state corona vaccination centers in Saxony had already stopped working at the end of last year. According to the Ministry of Health, medical practices were the main players in vaccination last year. People who currently want to be vaccinated against the virus should therefore contact the resident doctors.
However, health insurance patients in Saxony currently have to finance themselves for a corona vaccination. The negotiations for a new regulation of the remuneration for corona vaccinations are underway, the Association of Substitute Health Insurance Funds (VDEK) announced on Wednesday. He is currently negotiating with eleven regions of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KV) after the vaccination ordinance of the Federal Ministry of Health expired last week.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), more than 7.6 million vaccinations have been administered in Saxony since the end of December 2020 (as of April 5). In addition, almost 66 percent of the people in Saxony were vaccinated at least once. On Friday, the RKI gave the seven-day incidence for Saxony with 12.6 reported new cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
According to the AOK, Long Covid affects educators the most
Friday April 14, 2023 6:21 am: According to a data analysis by AOK Nordost, educators in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are most affected by long-lasting symptoms after corona infections. About 1.1 percent of all AOK-insured people in this professional group in the country have been on sick leave because of Long Covid since the beginning of the pandemic, the health insurance company announced on Friday. Across all sectors, 0.7 percent of all employees have been diagnosed with long-Covid disease. On average, those affected were out of work for around seven and a half weeks, according to press spokesman Dirk Becker.
According to the AOK Nordost, about one in four people in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is insured with this health insurance company. Thus, the data analysis can be regarded as approximately representative.
In addition to educators, the ten professional groups most affected by Long Covid are primarily employees from the healthcare industry, such as geriatric nurses. In addition, employees in public administration and in social administration also suffered from long-term consequences of a corona infection with an above-average frequency.
With regard to age, the survey shows that older employees are affected by Long Covid for much longer on average. “People over 60 had to take sick leave for an average of eleven weeks to recover from typical long-Covid symptoms such as shortness of breath, chronic fatigue and cognitive disorders,” the statement said. According to the information, the under-30s needed around half of this time – an average of five and a half weeks.
According to AOK Nordost, the data analysis evaluated how many AOK policyholders entitled to sick pay were unable to work between March 2020 and December 2022 due to a long or post-Covid illness. A total of around 600 sick leave reports were included. According to the information, only those in which at least 1000 AOK-insured persons are employed were considered for the ten most affected professions.
Saxony is waiting for the remuneration for corona vaccinations to be revised
06:34: At the moment, health insurance patients in Saxony have to finance themselves for a corona vaccination. The negotiations with eleven regions of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KV) for a new regulation of remuneration for corona vaccinations are underway, the Association of Substitute Health Insurance Funds (VDEK) announced on Wednesday. “We are assuming that deals will be concluded quickly here too,” said VDEK CEO Ulrike Elsner.
The Ministry of Health’s vaccination regulation expired last Saturday (April 8). According to the negotiations so far, only insured persons in Bavaria, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia and in the Westphalia-Lippe region can easily be vaccinated against Corona upon presentation of their electronic health card.
“As a substitute health insurance fund, we began negotiations at the beginning of the year in order to achieve a smooth transition in the interests of the insured,” said Elsner. However, the talks are “very difficult because the doctors have asked for fees that are far higher than those for other vaccinations”. The VDEK called on the remaining associations of statutory health insurance physicians to conclude the negotiations quickly in order to enable vaccination for all insured persons in an unbureaucratic manner.
As long as no agreement has been made, the insured will first receive an invoice from their doctor’s office and can submit this to their health insurance company for reimbursement.
You can read older news about the corona pandemic on the following pages.
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