Thread by @AndreasShrugged

1) A new podcast episode with virologist @c_drosten dropped this week (in German). I'll translate some excerpts that could be summarized as "Path to Endemic Covid-19". Starts at around 1:09:30. All errors in the following are my own. Full episode:

2) "After we had realized we will have the vaccine, it became clear what the vaccine can do: The vaccine helps society to make the step towards the endemic situation – learning to live with the virus after vaccinations have achieved a population-level of protection."

3) "Then the virus won’t be gone – it was clear from the beginning that the virus will continue to circulate, otherwise we wouldn’t have talked about it becoming endemic."

4) "The use of the term `herd immunity’ in public debate has been sloppy – some have understood it as a situation of eradication of the virus. But this was never the goal."

5) "Without the vaccine, we couldn’t tolerate the step towards endemicity just like that. [In Germany] we can’t take this step this Fall either given our low vaccination rate – the death toll is too high."

6) "We need to lower the deadliness so that the virus can spread subtly in the population. We want SARS2 to become a common cold – that’s the endemic situation. Achieving that depends on us and on the vaccination rate."

7) "The window for the step towards endemicity narrows with waning vaccine effects. We could say, `OK let’s boost’, but actually, it’s not the aim to vaccinate again and again. I think the majority of infectious disease biologists and physicians currently says the endemicity..."

8) "...is a common cold situation – but then we’re also in a situation where the `booster shot’ doesn’t happen here [via injection] but via recurring contacts with the virus, so that population immunity will become more and more resilient. This will generate longer-lasting,..."

9) "...more robust mucosal immunity. How I would like to become immune: I want to have a vaccine-induced immunity and on top of that, I want to have my first generic infection, and the second, and the third. Then I know I will have long-lasting immunity and I will only..."

10) "...encounter the virus every few years like I encounter the other coronaviruses. I can take responsibility for that as a healthy adult–other groups can’t and I can only do that because I’ve been vaccinated twice. Population-wide, we can't do that [in Germany] at the moment."

11) "Because many people can't shoulder this individual responsibility. You see that in [unvaccinated] people who come down with severe Covid saying in hindsight: 'If only someone had properly explained it to me, then I would had chosen my individual responsibility differently.'"

12) Unsurprisingly, the title of the episode is "We need to vaccinate our way out of the pandemic". It's very rich, also covering boosters, vaccinations for children, and how we could approach the school situation in Fall. I hope to get a full transcript translated next week.

13) An addition: Drosten says he personally would take a booster shot if offered and that booster shots generally are working great. Just personally(!), he would forgo it right now for the sake of deliveries to developing countries.