German expert: The Delta strain is more contagious and affects both children and adolescents
July 6, 2021

Collective immunity to the coronavirus is unlikely to be achieved without vaccinating children and adolescents, the German Society for Immunology (DGfI) said.
“Collective immunity is generally thought to be achieved when 60-70 per cent of the population is protected from pathogens.” “But it’s assumed the virus can’t spread to those people,” DGfI Vice President Reinhold Forst told Funke Media Group’s daily newspaper.
He said that with the Sars-Cov-2 virus everything is different, that is, that people can transmit the virus, even though they themselves are not sick, even if they have been vaccinated. He also stressed that “the delta strain only worsens such a situation.”
“It is very contagious and affects adolescents and children,” he explained, adding:
“As long as that age group is not vaccinated or in small numbers, collective immunity will not be achieved.”
The Robert Koch Institute for Disease Control (CRC) estimates that at least 85 percent of the population aged 12 to 59 and 90 percent of those over 60 must be vaccinated to successfully fight the delta strain.
“If that rate of division is achieved in time, the announced fourth wave in the fall or winter will be unlikely,” the ERC said.
To date, the Vaccination Board (STICO) has not issued a general recommendation for vaccination of children and adolescents over 12 years of age and no vaccine has been approved for those under 12 years of age.
