Covid-19: the booster dose and the return of the mandatory mask to the menu of the Defense Council

Published on : 11/24/2021 – 8:16 AM

Booster dose of vaccine, wearing of a mask … The executive looks, Wednesday, November 24, in the Defense Council on a strengthening of the health response to the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic which returns to punctuate the end of the Macron five-year term.

In isolation after his positive test on Monday, Prime Minister Jean Castex will participate remotely in this new meeting entirely dedicated to health, followed by a Council of Ministers. Symbol of an epidemic which once again dictates the government’s agenda, at one month of Christmas.

Even if the figures for Tuesday are still high since they include people who could not be tested on Sunday, 30,454 positive cases were identified in 24 hours.

Another indicator of epidemic recovery: closed classes. According to the Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, there are currently 6,000, against 4,000 last Friday.

Faced with this upsurge, the executive put more than ever, according to a government source, on “the two tools at our disposal: vaccination and the health pass” for which controls have been strengthened.

The Defense Council will thus allow “to address the question of the extension of the third dose of the vaccine, considering the recommendations that we have obtained from the various scientific and health authorities”, indicated Tuesday the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran.

Logically, the government should endorse the recommendation issued on Friday by the High Authority for Health (HAS) to inject the booster dose (most often a third dose) from the age of 40, six months after full vaccination.

No scientific consensus

“There are very few forties who are already six months away from the second dose, it will happen gradually in December. So, it gives us the opportunity to organize ourselves if the decision is ratified,” commented Olivier Véran.

Two other advisory bodies, the Scientific Council and the Vaccine Strategy Orientation Council, have gone further by considering a booster for all adults.

For now, the recall only concerns people over 65, people at risk of severe forms and caregivers. For 50-64 year olds, the booster will be available from 1^er December.

The systematic recall for all adults, however, is not a consensus among scientists. Some argue that two doses are still very effective against severe forms and that the urgent need is to vaccinate those who have not had any dose (6 million people).

One of the other challenges for the Defense Council will be to know from when the recall will be necessary to extend the health pass according to age.

For those over 65, this mechanism should in principle start on December 15. But the president of the Scientific Council, Jean-François Delfraissy, assured Monday to have “pushed” to advance this date to “the middle of next week”.

Social crisis in the West Indies

The Defense Council could also decide to make the mask compulsory again in certain places, including theaters. On the other hand, a curfew or even a re-containment is not under consideration, according to a government source.

“But given what is happening with our close neighbors, we cannot rule it out,” warns Professor Arnaud Fontanet, member of the scientific council, in Le Parisien, who says he is “very surprised by the brutality of this wave” .

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The explosive situation in the West Indies, where a mobilization against compulsory vaccination for caregivers has turned into a social crisis, should also be on the menu on Wednesday.

To break the deadlock, Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of Overseas Territories, indicated that the government “is committed to finding other types of vaccines” for people who refuse those with messenger RNA.

Several presidential candidates, from Michel Barnier (LR) to Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI) via Marine Le Pen (RN), have called for the reinstatement of free tests, joining the opinion of many scientists.

Five months before the presidential election, the Covid epidemic, which had sometimes completely disappeared from the political debate, is also making a comeback in the campaign and promises to become one of the major challenges for 2022.

With AFP