The resumption of COVID-19 cases, visible for several weeks in France, is not marked enough to advance the launch of the vaccination campaign planned for mid-October, the health authorities, calling to avoid “panic” before a new variant.
“There is nothing abnormal, we are quite below what we observe at the same time last year,” said Caroline Semaille, general director of Public Health of France, during a videoconference dedicated to measures to combat respiratory epidemics of autumn-winter such as flu, covid and bronchiolitis.
The vaccination campaign begins on October 14
For several weeks, COVID shows signs of recovery in France, with an increase in consultations and a greater presence of the virus in wastewater. But the data does not seem to show an outbreak.
“In the case of wastewater, the situation is beginning to stabilize,” said Caroline Semaille, pointing out, however, that we begin to “see a little more visits to the emergency room and possibly hospitalizations.”
This Wednesday will communicate a new weekly report. The vaccination campaign against this disease will begin as planned on October 14, to complement that of the flu, since the health authorities consider that there is no urgency to accelerate the fight against COVID.
“We had no arguments at the epidemiological level to change this release date of October 14,” said Didier Lepelletier, general director of Health, in charge of vaccination campaigns.
Didier Lepelletier also called not worrying about the appearance since this summer of a variant, called XFG and the new avatar of the great Omicron family. Sometimes nicknamed “Frankenstein”, especially in social networks, seems potentially more contagious but no more dangerous at this stage.
“You don’t have to panic, the available vaccine is effective against this strain (Y) there will be no immune escape related to this particular strain,” said the general director of Health.
Public health representatives of France and the Ministry of Health have urged to be vaccinated both against Covid and against the flu, which was especially virulent last season, with more than 17,000 estimated deaths.
It is considered that around 19 million people are at risk of serious ways of these two respiratory pathologies, particularly those over 65, many chronic patients and pregnant women, and can benefit from a free flu vaccine. The Covid campaign is completely reimbursed to all French.
Source: BFM TV
