Vaccination: “We must at all costs avoid a double epidemic of Covid and flu”, alert Alain Fischer – LCI

If he “there is no direct link” between these two infectious diseases, they could well experience a recruiting of contaminations at the same time. Invited from France 2 this Monday, October 25, Professor Alain Fischer, chairman of the orientation council for the vaccine strategy, encouraged the French to receive a third dose of vaccine against Covid-19, while being administered a serum against influenza, which kicked off the vaccine campaign last Friday.

“It is quite possible, on the same day, to receive both injections”, he explained, ensuring that“there is no incompatibility” between the two sera and that, “it is done in a few minutes”. A call to address in particular the over 65s, people at risk but also pregnant women, who are the most vulnerable, he said. And to insist: “We must at all costs avoid a double epidemic of Covid and influenza.”

“There was no flu last year, the immunity of the population is a little less, so if we ever have a more nasty flu epidemic this year, we could have a lot of cases: hospitalizations, deaths “, he warned, adding that “in bad years”, the flu could kill up to 10,000 people.

“For those over 65, the effectiveness of vaccination [contre le Covid-19] is slowly moving towards a slightly lower efficiency “, which justifies the recall for this population, added the professor. “And this vaccination does not protect 100%, hence the need to continue barrier gestures for the moment.”

Last Wednesday, at the end of the Council of Ministers, government spokesman Gabriel Attal launched a “call back”. If six million French people are already eligible for a third dose, only two million of them have received it, he said. “It’s not enough”, he had hammered. In addition, this third dose may be necessary to maintain a valid health pass. “It’s a track that is gaining ground”, had advanced the spokesperson of the government, adding however that‘”no decision is made at this stage”.

Currently, around 76% of French people have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and 74% are fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from the Covid Tracker site, dated October 21. Alain Fischer also recalled that some fragile people, especially very old or sick, have not yet been vaccinated against the coronavirus, he recalled, indicating that 13% of very old people have not yet been vaccinated. “We must continue the effort to reach these people”, he stressed.

“If there are no new variants, we should gradually see the epidemic fade away, with small ripples, perhaps like the ones we are experiencing these days”, he also indicated, affirming that “Little by little, the virus could become endemic, that is to say a virus present but which does not cause severe infection”.