The time between the two doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be maintained at "
3 or 4 weeks
", Minister of Health Olivier Véran announced on Tuesday, despite the opinions of two health authorities who estimated that it could be extended to six weeks .
"
We are faced with a part of the unknown, I am choosing the security of validated data
", justified the minister during a press conference, assuring that the question was "
legitimate
" but that a postponement would only have a "
minor impact on the rate of vaccination
".
Read also: Vaccination: why the postponement of the second injection to six weeks is debated
More people would receive the first injection initially, but then the second injection would have to be provided in the following weeks and "at the
end of March, beginning of April, in fine, the number of people vaccinated would be the same
", explained Alain Fischer, Chairman of the Vaccine Strategy Orientation Council.
"
We have no information available on the effectiveness in the duration of a first dose
", also underlined the immunologist.
According to preliminary data published in Israel, "
in subjects over the age of 60, the protection against the occurrence of a Covid in the period between the first and the second dose is only 33%
", which constitutes a “
disappointment,
” he added.
The two managers also put forward practical arguments in favor of maintaining the current deadline (need to call back all people who already have a second scheduled appointment) and the fact that most other countries have made the same choice (at except the United Kingdom, Quebec and Denmark).
The vaccine against Covid-19 developed by the American Pfizer and the German BioNTech, the first to be authorized in the European Union on December 21, is based on the injection of two doses, spaced 21 to 28 days apart.
In view of the limited number of doses available, the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) estimated on January 7 that the 2nd dose could be administered "
between 21 and 42 days
", in order to increase the number of patients receiving the
drug.
1st dose within a short period of time.
"
It is possible without risk and without loss of effectiveness to postpone the second injection of the vaccine
" Pfizer-BioNTech "
up to six weeks instead of three
", assured Olivier Véran after this announcement.
The policeman of health products argued in particular that the clinical trial conducted by the laboratories had established the effectiveness of the vaccine "
in a window ranging from 19 to 42 days
".
The High Authority of Health (HAS) had in turn estimated Saturday that spacing six weeks the injection of the two doses was "
an option to consider
".
Since the start of vaccination in France on December 27, 1,092,958 vaccine injections have been carried out, mainly the first injections.
"
In February, it will be necessary to ensure the recall of people first-vaccinated in January
" and therefore "
the number of people who will receive a first injection in February will be lower than in January
", noted Olivier Véran.