T.v. Günter Kampf, t.h. en sykepleier i Albania som er i ferd med å sette en koronavaksine. Foto: Management & Krankenhaus og Franc Zhurda / AP / NTB.

Det finnes helt klart grenser for hvor mye lit man skal feste til innlegg i det medisinske tidsskriftet The Lancet, ikke minst etter offentliggjøringen av det skandaløse brevet fra Peter Daszak og kompani der hypotesen om at koronaviruset lekket fra Wuhan-laboratoriet ble avfeid som en konspirasjonsteori – og fremfor alt fordi brevet fremdeles figurerer på tidsskriftets hjemmesider uten at brevskrivernes reelle interesser er oppgitt.

Det er ikke desto mindre oppsiktsvekkende når The Lancet publiserer et brev fra en tysk lege som mener det er klart misvisende å kalle koronasituasjonen i øyeblikket som «de uvaksinertes pandemi».

Günter Kampf, som er epidemiolog ved universitetet i Greifswald, merker seg at høytstående tjenestepersoner har benyttet det han mener er et stigmatiserende uttrykk:

In the USA and Germany, high-level officials have used the term pandemic of the unvaccinated, suggesting that people who have been vaccinated are not relevant in the epidemiology of COVID-19. Officials’ use of this phrase might have encouraged one scientist to claim that “the unvaccinated threaten the vaccinated for COVID-19”.¹ But this view is far too simple.

Vaksinerte spiller en vesentlig rolle i smittespredningen, konstaterer Kampf:

In Massachusetts, USA, a total of 469 new COVID-19 cases were detected during various events in July, 2021, and 346 (74%) of these cases were in people who were fully or partly vaccinated, 274 (79%) of whom were symptomatic.

Noen epidemiologiske fellestrekk vedvarer nokså uavhengig av vaksinasjonsstatus:

Cycle threshold values were similarly low between people who were fully vaccinated (median 22·8) and people who were unvaccinated, not fully vaccinated, or whose vaccination status was unknown (median 21·5), indicating a high viral load even among people who were fully vaccinated.²

Vaksinerte blir fremdeles syke:

In the USA, a total of 10 262 COVID-19 cases were reported in vaccinated people by April 30, 2021, of whom 2725 (26·6%) were asymptomatic, 995 (9·7%) were hospitalised, and 160 (1·6%) died.³

In Germany, 55·4% of symptomatic COVID-19 cases in patients aged 60 years or older were in fully vaccinated individuals,⁴ and this proportion is increasing each week.

Kampf understreker at vaksinerte har lavere risiko for å utvikle alvorlig sykdom, men de er ikke desto mindre en vesentlig del av pandemien.

It is therefore wrong and dangerous to speak of a pandemic of the unvaccinated.

Stigmatiseringen av uvaksinerte gir assosiasjoner til rasisme hos den tyske epidemiologen:

Historically, both the USA and Germany have engendered negative experiences by stigmatising parts of the population for their skin colour or religion.

Dette må ta slutt, formaner Kampf:

I call on high-level officials and scientists to stop the inappropriate stigmatisation of unvaccinated people, who include our patients, colleagues, and other fellow citizens, and to put extra effort into bringing society together.

Avslutningen reiser spørsmålet om hvorvidt samfunnet eksisterer fremdeles.

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