Behind the 3rd dose, Macron’s unspoken words on the 5th wave of Covid – The HuffPost

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SCIENCE – The 5th wave has started in Europe and if the situation in France is more favorable, “the 40% increase in the incidence rate and the increase in hospitalizations are warning signs” in the face of the epidemic of Covid-19. This is what affirmed Emmanuel Macron in a speech delivered this Tuesday, November 9.

Faced with this risk, the President of the Republic called on vulnerable people, especially the elderly, to take their booster dose. From December 15, a 3rd dose of vaccine will be necessary for people over 65 to benefit from the health pass. Fifteen days earlier, those over 50 will have the opportunity to make an appointment for this booster injection.

If the usefulness of this 3rd dose for the elderly, today there is rather consensus in the scientific community, it is far from certain that it will be enough to prevent a new overflow of hospitals by the Covid-19. But on the other options at our disposal to limit the spread of coronavirus, Emmanuel Macron was not very talkative. Silences that say a lot about the government’s choices.

A 3rd limited dose

In recent months, several studies have shown that a vaccine booster has virtues in the face of Covid-19 in the elderly. In fact, we know that the immunity of conventional vaccines with two doses seems to be reduced over time. In a recent study Analyzing an American cohort, researchers showed that the effectiveness of the vaccine against infection decreased over time, from 88% to 48% on average between February and October. The vaccine continues to greatly reduce the risk of serious disease, even if protection also drops: 70% for Pfizer, 52% for Janssen and 75% for Moderna in those over 65.

At the same time, variousstudies showed that a third dose increased immunity again, especially in the elderly. “Faced with this declining immunity, we try to make it go up a little in order to achieve 90% protection against serious forms”, details in HuffPost Morgane Bomsel, specialist in virology at the Cochin Institute.

“There is no longer any debate on the usefulness of the third dose in the elderly or in people with immunodeficiency,” says the HuffPost Antoine Flahault, epidemiologist in Geneva and director of the Institute for Global Health. Conversely, “the usefulness of a third dose generalized to the entire population is another question”, he explains.

Indeed, on the youngest, the effectiveness against the severe forms remains very important, even six months after the injection. We could certainly say that a booster dose would lower the risk of being infected and therefore of infecting a fragile person. But if Israel, which has massively vaccinated its population with a booster dose, “benefits from a lull, it remains to be seen whether it will be temporary”, warns the epidemiologist.

“The risk of such a strategy would be to have a kind of headlong flight, focusing on this booster dose which could distract us from other more important actions to be taken to contain the epidemic,” said Antoine Flahault.

A simple “spirit of responsibility”

“The first is to vaccinate everyone and that takes a lot of effort. The second is to limit contamination, in particular through ventilation, aeration of premises open to the public, ”explains the epidemiologist. “With this 3rd dose, we no longer place importance on measures to fight against the spread of the coronavirus”, agrees Morgane Bomsel.

If Emmanuel Macron did not limit the fight against the Covid-19 epidemic to this 3rd dose, we cannot say that he was very offensive on these other actions at our disposal.

To the 6 million French people who have not yet received any dose of vaccine, the president simply appealed to their “spirit of responsibility”. But it would be surprising if this wishful thinking was enough to vaccinate the 13% over 80 years who still have not taken the plunge. A figure much higher than among some of our neighbors.

Admittedly, the health pass made it possible to relaunch the vaccination campaign, but the “move towards” aimed at targeting isolated or recalcitrant populations had a negative impact. rather mixed effect. “The strategy of ‘going towards’ is no longer sufficient for this population which is partially refractory to the vaccine”, writes the scientific council in an opinion published Tuesday 5 October. And the initiatives in place, such toll-free numbers, have their faults.

As for measures to prevent the spread of the virus, Emmanuel Macron’s speech did not bring anything new, simply explaining that we should not wait for “no easing”. Wearing a mask at school remains the order of the day, barrier gestures must be the subject of “increased attention” and health pass controls will be “reinforced. These measures are certainly useful, but which no longer seem sufficient to control the virus with the onset of winter.

However, there would be things to do, according to Antoine Flahault: “There is no standard on the ventilation of closed places welcoming the public, although we know that the transmission is done by aerosol”.

The spirit of responsibility of the French will perhaps be sufficient to nip the epidemic resumption in the bud. But what if it isn’t? “We will continue to adapt our decisions according to the evolution of the epidemic”, recalled the Head of State. We can only hope that a tenth speech is not necessary.

See also on The HuffPost: Find the full speech of Emmanuel Macron