The virus has not disappeared. In August, the health services registered a slight rebound in Covid-19 cases in France. The figures are far from reaching the levels known during the peaks of contamination, but they show that the virus continues to circulate in the territory.
“The virus continues to circulate in all countries, killing and changing,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director of the World Health Organization (WHO), said on August 9.
The UN director general thus invited all countries to “intensify efforts to increase vaccination coverage” for all those at risk. An opinion shared by the French health authorities, who are preparing a new vaccination campaign for the fall.
Simultaneous influenza vaccination
According to an official bulletin from the Ministry of Health in July, this campaign will start on October 17 in mainland France, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyana and even on September 6 in Mayotte.
Questioned by the specialized agency APMNoticias on August 11 during a press conference, the General Directorate of Health (DGS) clarified that the resumption of the epidemic recently observed in French territory did not require bringing forward the expected dates.
With the arrival of winter, a favorable period for the circulation of respiratory viruses, the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 will once again be linked, as in previous winters, to that of the flu, in order to facilitate its implementation and increase. the coverage rate.
For people at risk
This decision follows the opinion issued in February by the High Health Authority (HAS), which recommended a new dose of vaccine this fall for people most at risk.
Over time, the effectiveness and protection provided by the vaccine decreases. A booster dose offers “additional protection against the onset of symptomatic infections” and the risks “of hospitalization and death,” the HAS writes.
The recipients of this new campaign are those over 65 years of age, those with comorbidities (diabetes, obesity, chronic diseases, etc.), the immunocompromised and pregnant women. Also added are all those who are in regular contact with these people, including caregivers.
It is also about “people with psychiatric disorders, dementia or trisomy 21”, specifies the ministry.
A new vaccine in the pipeline
As Seguros de Salud recalls, vaccination against Covid-19 is however open and free for all those who want it. The only condition is to respect a minimum period of six months after the last injection or infection, “regardless of the person’s situation.”
For this new campaign, “there is no period of prioritization of the people to whom the recommendations are directed,” says the DSG.
Regarding the type of vaccines used, the HAS recommends “preferably the use of bivalent mRNA vaccines adapted to Omicron, whatever the vaccine(s) previously administered”, such as those from Pfizer or Moderna for older adults. 30 years old.
In addition, while a new subvariant of the virus, called Eris, is circulating, these two laboratories, as well as Novavax, are developing a new vaccine capable of targeting it with precision. It should be available from September.
Source: BFM TV
