Declining COVID-19 morbidity and case fatality in Germany: the pandemic end?

Excerpt

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused the 2019 global Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. A high disease burden, increasing hospitalization rates, and daily mortality numbers were reported in many countries during the initial waves of the pandemic. In the absence of specific prevention and therapy, non-pharmaceutical public health interventions targeted social distancing, contact reduction and universal masking to contain infections [1]. Subsequently, different COVID-19 vaccines became licensed, resulting in effective prevention of infection and disease [2]. Shortly after the global vaccines became available, reports showed waning vaccine efficacy, necessitating a booster vaccination [3]. Furthermore, novel variants challenged the effectiveness of the vaccines. The Omicron variant was described first in November 2021 and was simultaneously associated with an increased likelihood of transmission but reduced morbidity and mortality in vaccinated patients [4, 5]. As a result, it remains unclear whether the infection prevention strategy is still adequate to reduce morbidity and mortality. …