DIRECT – Covid-19: “The peak is not behind us”, a Pfizer vaccine adapted to Omicron “in March”, soon a 4th dose? – Charente Libre

• “There will be enough doses if we use all the vaccines”, says Delfraissy.

“There will be enough vaccine doses” recall against Covid-19 “if we use all the vaccines” to ARN-messenger, that is to say from Pfizer but also from Moderna, insisted this Wednesday Jean-François Delfraissy, president of the Scientific Council. As appointments for a booster dose of the vaccine are stormed, the government promises there will be no shortage.

“If we only use Pfizer, we will not have enough doses because the orders are gone”, however warned the President of the Scientific Council, responsible for helping the French government face the health crisis. “There is no need to fear Moderna”, he hammered, while many French people seem to favor the Pfizer vaccine. The two vaccines have the same efficacy, that of Moderna being perhaps “slightly better” as a booster dose, assured Mr. Delfraissy.

The professor reiterated that after this booster dose, the immune response was increased. It remains to be seen for how long.

• A Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine adapted to the Omicron variant expected “in March”

The vaccine against Covid-19 developed by the companies Pfizer and BioNTech is “Always effective” after “Three doses” against the Omicron variant of the virus, said Wednesday in a press release BioNTech, which however wishes to finalize a suitable vaccine “By March”. According to studies carried out by laboratories “The vaccine is still effective against Covid-19, also against the Omicron variant, if it has been administered three times”, but this variant is not “Probably not sufficiently neutralized after two doses”.

• Gabriel Attal’s statements in brief…

“The peak is not behind us”, assures Gabriel Attal, government spokesperson. “On the other hand, we see that the rate of contamination has slowed down slightly in recent days. But it will continue to rise in the coming weeks in our hospital services », He adds, indicating that according to the models of the Pasteur Institute, 3000 patients could be in critical care in ten days.

“The hospital pressure remains three less important during the second wave, it is the proof, if one was still needed, of the effectiveness of our vaccine shield”, assures the spokesperson of the Élysée, at the end of the Council of Ministers. “We are on a crest path, but we can hold out.”

“15 million French people will be able to receive a reminder by the beginning of January”, thanks in particular to the opening of 200 vaccination centers.

• Soon a 4^e dose?

“We may need a fourth dose at some point “, Affirms during his hearing in the Senate the immunologist and president of the Scientific Council Jean-François Delfraissy. “It is also possible that the boost is so important that it is durable over time”, he said too.

“For now it’s a booster, but maybe it will take a fourth, I don’t know. I don’t know how long the recall will last. (…) In a crisis of this type, we have to say everything we know, and put it on the table, so that we can share what we know or don’t know. So it is possible that we need at some point a fourth dose, to remind, and in what time frame, I do not know it yet ”, detailed Jean-François Delfraissy.

• How to protect yourself during Christmas Eve?

Gilles Pialoux, head of the infectious and tropical diseases department at Tenon hospital in Paris, provides an answer on LCI this Wednesday morning: “We have to do tests on Christmas day, that everyone respects the ventilation, and we will spend the holidays more or less correctly ..” To avoid too much pressure on the hospital system, the doctor therefore calls on the French to “Collective responsibility” during large family gatherings at the end of the year.

“We must stop being in blissful reassurance”, he hammers, maintaining that“No argument lets us understand that things will go down”. “We, for Christmas and New Years at the public hospital, our concern is to have nurses in front of the beds”, he emphasizes. “We are not at all quiet about that, even if the wave is partly controlled by vaccination. We have visibility for three days “, he explains. “We are extremely worried”, concludes the doctor.

• Macron “optimistic for the future”

Emmanuel Macron said this Wednesday on France Bleu Pays d’Auvergne, believe that “The French will be able to spend serene Christmas holidays”. “We are fighting together and the French have made considerable efforts by giving up a lot of leisure, by being extraordinarily civic. I am optimistic for the future ”, he said again.