Last Monday, October 3, the government launched an autumn vaccination campaign against Covid-19 for the most vulnerable populations. This is a second booster dose for them, or what is also called the fourth dose.
But so far, this announcement has not sparked a vaccination rush. Between October 3 and 9, fewer than 100,000 people entered the quadruple vaccination category, according to government data, while a total of 25 million people are expected to receive this additional vaccine.
The new bivalent vaccines distributed
The fourth dose has already been open to part of the population for several months: people over 60 years of age, pregnant women, adults at serious risk and those around them, residents of nursing homes, immunosuppressed people, but also to all health professionals and employees of the medical-social sector. 6.5 million people have already received a fourth dose in France.
The novelty of this campaign are these new so-called bivalent vaccines that are directed in particular at the variants of the virus currently in circulation. The same people are targeted by vaccination and might be more attracted to these more effective doses.
“We have patients who have become ill with up-to-date vaccination records, they believe that they will gain more effectiveness with this vaccine,” explains Amandine Lagorce, doctor of pharmacy, to BFMTV. About fifty of these doses have been administered in her Parisian pharmacy since last week.
“C’est clair que les vaccins bivalents entrainent un taux d’anticorps plus élevé vis à vis des souches Omicron, cela c’est sûr”, adds sur notre antenne Daniel Floret, vice-president of the commission des vaccinations à la Haute autorité of health.
8 million doses at the end of October
“The administration of this booster dose must respect the minimum recommended time between two vaccinations, that is, 3 months for people 80 years of age or older, for residents of nursing homes or USLD, for immunosuppressed people” and “6 months for the rest”, explains the Ministry of Health.
By the end of October, 8 million doses of these bivalent vaccines will be available, ahead of new arrivals. If it is frail people who are mainly targeted by this vaccination, “of course if you want to get vaccinated, you can get vaccinated”, declared the Minister of Health François Braun.
According to data from Covid Tracker, 36.8% of those over 75 years of age received the two booster doses, 30.83% of those between 65-74 years of age.
At the same time, the Covid-19 back-to-school wave, which began in early September in France, continues to rise in terms of infections and hospitalizations. Santé Publique France recorded +7.9% new cases in the last seven days, +21.3% hospitalizations and +14.2% intensive care admissions.
Source: BFM TV
