Covid-19: after the European agency, the High Authority for Health recommends a third dose of vaccine for caregivers

After Europe, France. Monday, October 4, the European Medicines Agency gave the green light to the administration of a third dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for people over 18 years of age. On Wednesday, the High Authority for Health (HAS), responsible for proposing a vaccination strategy to the French government, recommended extending this recall, so far reserved for over 65s, to all health personnel and those around them. immunocompromised people.

More specifically, the HAS invites the government to target health professionals, the medico-social sector and extended health transport, i.e. 3.5 million individuals, as well as the families of patients poorly or not protected by the vaccine, i.e. 350,000 to 400,000 people. They will therefore be added to the approximately 14 million over 65s already affected by the vaccine booster.

To justify its recommendation, the High Authority for Health emphasizes that the effectiveness of the vaccination gradually decreases from the sixth month following the second injection. “The latest studies on real-life data confirm this decrease”, insists HAS. The independent body is essentially based on studies carried out in Israel, a pioneer country in vaccination, and therefore the first to have observed the phenomenon.

“This drop in protection seems to reflect both a lower efficacy of the vaccines vis-à-vis the Delta variant and a gradual decrease over time in the efficacy of the scheme with two doses”, continues the HAS.

Nevertheless, she notes “Efficacy against severe forms which remains at a high level”. All over the world, hospital beds, especially those in intensive care units, remain occupied by unvaccinated people.

“Individual and collective protection”

Why then a third dose? For the elderly, because they have two disadvantages. Vaccinated as a priority, between January and April, they are the first to suffer from the drop in protection. They are also the most threatened by severe forms, even with two doses received.

However, Israeli studies, by analyzing data from more than 1 million people over the age of 60, showed that the risk of developing a severe form of Covid-19 was 19.5 times lower in those who had received a recall five months after their second injection only in those who had not received it. A particularly important difference. This is, moreover, what had led the HAS, then the government, to launch, in August, the recall campaign among the over 65s, without waiting for the opinion of the European Medicines Agency.

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