A prominent German virologist has suggested that another coronavirus wave could hit the country as early as October, with vaccination rates not high enough to mitigate the virus throughout the autumn and winter seasons.

Coronavirus flaring up again in Germany

A German virologist has predicted that another coronavirus wave will hit Germany, dampening hopes that the current crisis could be over soon. “I think there is now an indication of the autumn and winter wave that we will probably see again in October,” said Christian Drosten from the Charité hospital in Berlin.

Drosten said that the seven-day incidence rate is already starting to creep up again in Germany’s eastern states, where vaccination rates are considerably lower than the rest of the country. According to the scientist, this serves as an example of what could happen around the country.

Cases started rising around this time last year in Germany, with Drosten stating that by the second half of October, it was clear “that we were going back into an exponential increase”.

Vaccination rates aren’t high enough

Statistics show that the seven-day incidence rate in Germany is on the rise. On Wednesday, 11.780 cases of coronavirus were reported within 24 hours, and 67 deaths. The incidence rate has also increased from 60,3 cases per 100.000 people the day before, to 61 cases.

Health experts estimate that around 64 percent of the population has been vaccinated against coronavirus. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), 74,7 percent of people over the age of 18 have been fully vaccinated, whilst only 33,2 percent of people aged between 12 and 17 have received both jabs. However, experts believe that this is not enough to avoid another coronavirus wave and have set targets that require 75 percent of people aged between 12 and 59 to be fully vaccinated, as well as 90 percent of people over 60.

Drosten said that the current vaccination rates aren’t good enough, adding that closing the vaccination gap must be the goal in order to avoid a significant strain on the country’s healthcare system and hospitals. He also said that it was up to politicians to convince people who are undecided whether they should get inoculated.