The professor at the MedUni Innsbruck told the Tiroler Tageszeitung that she was in favor of shortening the convalescent status from the previous 6 months to just 3 months. “Anyone who has recovered from the previous variants is hardly protected against omicron,” she stated. This contradicts her own statement from September – at that time she still considered the recovered status to be the best and most long-term immunity against Corona – also against the Delta variant that was still circulating at the time. At the time, she even called for a comprehensive antibody study – apparently everything is different again with the mildest corona variant Omicron.
She advocated compulsory vaccination and hopes that this will close the “vaccination gaps” that still exist.
In addition, the 63-year-old Van Laer predicts that in future at least one vaccination per year to refresh against Corona will be necessary. She expects “regular booster vaccinations adapted to the current variant every autumn, once more than 95 percent of the people are immune – through infection or vaccination”. The Omicron virus variant will probably not “excessively” burden the intensive care units, but will “fill the normal wards back up to the capacity limits”, said the virologist.
