Estimates of protection levels against SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 in Germany before the 2022/2023 winter season: the IMMUNEBRIDGE project

PURPOSE: Despite the need to generate valid and reliable estimates of protection levels against SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe course of COVID-19 for the German population in summer 2022, there was a lack of systematically collected population-based data allowing for the assessment of the protection level in real time. METHODS: In the IMMUNEBRIDGE project, we harmonised data and biosamples for nine population-/hospital-based studies (total number of participants n = 33,637) to provide estimates for protection levels against SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 between June and November 2022. Based on evidence synthesis, we formed a combined endpoint of protection levels based on the number of self-reported infections/vaccinations in combination with nucleocapsid/spike antibody responses ("confirmed exposures"). Four confirmed exposures represented the highest protection level, and no exposure represented the lowest. RESULTS: Most participants were seropositive against the spike antigen; 37% of the participants ≥ 79 years had less than four confirmed exposures (highest level of protection) and 5% less than three. In the subgroup of participants with comorbidities, 46-56% had less than four confirmed exposures. We found major heterogeneity across federal states, with 4-28% of participants having less than three confirmed exposures. CONCLUSION: Using serological analyses, literature synthesis and infection dynamics during the survey period, we observed moderate to high levels of protection against severe COVID-19, whereas the protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection was low across all age groups. We found relevant protection gaps in the oldest age group and amongst individuals with comorbidities, indicating a need for additional protective measures in these groups

The Impact of Social and Demographic Structural Changes on the Poverty Development in Germany

In the course of social and demographic changes the share of the population with comparatively low poverty risks (e.g. highly educated, childless and middle-aged persons) increased substantially. Still, the aggregated poverty rate did not sink over time. To explain this phenomenon, this paper analyses the impact that structural changes in age, education, and household composition had on the development of poverty in Germany between 1992 and 2008. For this purpose individual poverty risks are estimated according to age, educational level and number of children for each calendar year in the given period and aggregated on the basis of the population structure of the year 1992. This reveals the poverty development under constant, structurally adjusted conditions and enables the comparison with the actual development.The data analysis is based on the German socio-economic panel. The findings show that due to the increase of individual poverty risks today-structurally adjusted-an additional third of people would be poor (16.6 %) than is actually the case (12.0 %). The structural population changes towards social groups with relatively low poverty risks therefore prevented an increase in poverty rate by more than four percentage points. Thus, the stagnating respectively 'only' slightly increased poverty ratio is for the most part a positive result of the socio-demographic changes in German society