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Covid-19, what you need to know this week: reprieve for the health pass

2021-10-21T08:41:03.847Z


The deputies voted, with one vote, the possibility of extending the health pass beyond November 15. Hello, To discover Covid-19: the third vaccine dose, instructions for use The tone rose yesterday in the National Assembly before the narrow adoption of the bill on health vigilance. The extension of the possibility of using the health pass until next summer has made the teeth of the deputies cringe. The number of Covid cases is however on the rise again. No panic, however: for the moment it is


Hello,

To discover

  • Covid-19: the third vaccine dose, instructions for use

The tone rose yesterday in the National Assembly before the narrow adoption of the bill on health vigilance. The extension of the possibility of using the

health pass

until next summer has made the teeth of the deputies cringe. The number of Covid cases is however on the rise again. No panic, however: for the moment it is not, far from it,

a fifth wave

. The flu is shaping up to be like every fall. This year, the French will be able to combine the injection of the

booster dose

against Covid and that of the flu vaccine

in the same meeting

. Not in the same arm all the same. the

China

It is on the verge of losing the booster dose market as many countries question the effectiveness of their two vaccines.

Good reading,

Camille Lestienne, journalist at

Le Figaro

.

1. The extended health pass

Health Minister Olivier Véran defended the health vigilance bill in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

Barely.

After heated debates in the National Assembly on Wednesday, article 2 of the bill on "

 health vigilance

", Which authorizes the executive to use the health pass until July 31, 2022, was adopted by one vote last night. The entire bill was passed overnight with 10 votes apart. The deputies scrambled, deeming the eight-month period of health vigilance disproportionate. If it is not a question of maintaining the pass until the summer but of keeping the possibility of triggering it if the circumstances require it, the government still intends to extend it beyond November 15. The executive does not rule out conditioning the device on a vaccine booster or third dose for the people concerned. The idea is not unanimous even among specialists such as Mircea Sofonea who fears public weariness. "In

the end, will thevaccine obligation would not be clearer?

He asks himself.

A proposal that would make the defender of rights jump.

In a press release, Claire Hédon says she is "

concerned

" by the introduction of the end of reimbursement for Covid-19 screening tests.

A measure which can be likened according to her to a "

disguised vaccination obligation

".

In the meantime, the end of free access has caused the number of tests carried out last week to collapse.

Read also Health pass: the challenges of a text affecting freedoms

2. Optimism but vigilance on the epidemic

If we want to keep the epidemic under control, there are still significant levers.

It was too early to release certain barrier gestures.

Mircea Sofonea, lecturer in epidemiology at the University of Montpellier

Slight resumption of the epidemic.

If the number of cases is on the rise again, it is not yet time to worry for the specialists interviewed by

Le

Figaro

. "

A fifth wave would start in the same way, but it is too early to say it

", comments the epidemiologist Mircea Sofonea who observes especially "

a stop of the decline and a stabilization of the incidence

".

The researchers all point to an increase in social interactions in closed environments and in particular at school - where the mask is no longer compulsory for 79 departments - and a relaxation of barrier gestures.

The saturation threshold in hospitals is however far from being reached with less than 1,000 people currently receiving critical care compared to 4,000 when confinement was declared in November 2020.

Read alsoCovid-19: the slight upturn in the circulation of the virus does not yet worry specialists

The numbers to remember

  • 1026

    patients in critical care (-20 since the day before)

  • 6,465

    hospitalized patients (-18 since the day before)

  • 6,036

    new cases detected in 24 hours

  • 21

    deaths in 24 hours in hospital (117,352 deaths since the start of the epidemic, including 90,502 in hospital)

Source: Public health France as of October 20

3. Covid and flu: Double dose of vaccine

For those over 65, the health authorities recommend coupling the injection of the booster dose against Covid with that of the flu vaccine.

STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS

Double dose.

While the campaign for the booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine is progressing slowly, the government has decided to bring the start of the flu vaccine campaign forward to October 22. The High Authority for Health (HAS) invites the French concerned - people over 65, pregnant women, chronically ill - to combine the two injections during the same appointment. Each of them, however, must take place in a different arm. According to studies, people who have contracted the flu and Covid consecutively have a greater risk of having a serious form or of dying, recalls a specialist in

Le Figaro

.

HAS has also recommended the exclusive use of the Pfizer / BioNtech vaccine for the third dose.

The French health authorities consider it more prudent to wait for the decision of the European Medicines Agency on the use of Moderna as a booster dose.

Read alsoAre vaccinated people more likely to be infected than others?

The numbers to remember

  • 50.9 million

    people received a first dose (75.6% of the population).

  • 49.7 million

    French people have a complete vaccination schedule (73.7% of the population).

Source: Directorate General of Health as of October 20

The vaccination obligation in the Overseas Territories.

Clearly, the vaccine does not pass in the overseas territories.

With a rate of around 70% of fully vaccinated private caregivers, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guyana are good last in the ranking of French departments.

However, this is much higher than the 35% rate posted in the general population.

Faced with this situation, the Martinique University Hospital has decided, for the sake of appeasement, to lift the obligation of the health pass when less than 50% of the nursing staff are currently vaccinated.

Read also Covid-19: more than eight in ten police officers officially vaccinated

4. Doubt about the Chinese vaccine

The effectiveness of Chinese vaccines from Sinovac and Sinopharm has been questioned.

RYAD KRAMDI / AFP

It is a big blow for China.

After Malaysia in July, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Turkey are gradually turning away from Chinese vaccines whose effectiveness is in doubt. A blow to Chinese vaccine diplomacy - Chinese vaccine exports fell 21% last August - a boon for Westerners who find there a new market for booster doses. The two Chinese vaccines developed by Sinovac and Sinopharm are based on inactivated virus technology. The levels of antibodies produced after injection are much lower than those observed with messenger RNA vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, or even that of AstraZeneca with non-replicating viral vector. Chinese vaccines were, however, considered effective in the same proportions as others against severe forms of the disease (80 to 90%) untilthat a study carried out in Brazil where the Gamma variant was in the majority proves a drop in efficiency to 30% for those over 80 years old.

Read also Anti-Covid vaccine: the French nugget Valneva plays its all-out

5. And elsewhere?

Boris Johnson remains calm in the face of the upsurge in the number of Covid cases in the UK.

TOBY MELVILLE / REUTERS

United Kingdom

.

Across the Channel, the number of contaminations is soaring to a level not seen since mid-July: nearly 50,000 new cases are listed daily.

But the hospitalization rate is not skyrocketing thanks to the vaccination, which allows Boris Johnson to remain calm.

While keeping an eye out for a new strain of the Delta variant, which is even more contagious and which worries scientists.

Brazil.

The charges are serious against Jair Bolsonaro.

After six months of hearings, the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (ICC) of the Brazilian Senate was due on Wednesday to request the indictment of the Brazilian president for “

intentional

crimes

in the management of the pandemic.

Charges that will remain symbolic, the president having enough support in parliament to avoid an impeachment procedure.

United States

.

Fully vaccinated foreign visitors will once again be able to travel to the United States from November 8, the White House announced last Friday.

A decision eagerly awaited after more than a year of restrictions.

Russia.

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered a big week off at the beginning of November in order to fight against the outbreak of the epidemic. That same day, the country, which is already the most bereaved in Europe, recorded a new daily death record, with 1,028 dead. While the population is very suspicious of vaccination, the Kremlin spokesman on Tuesday called on the Russians to be "

more responsible

" instead of "

blaming the state for everything

".

Gates Foundation

.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Wednesday announced an investment of $ 120 million to facilitate poor countries' access to promising treatment for Covid-19.

Administered in pill form, molnupiravir developed by the American laboratory Merck greatly reduces the risk of hospitalization and death when taken in the first days of infection.

6. Calendar, pass and masks

Health pass.

The health pass is required to go to places of culture and leisure accommodating more than 50 people (cinema, theater, concerts, festivals, etc.). The same goes for restaurants, bars, indoors and outdoors, in trains, buses and planes, retirement homes and medical establishments. Places of worship are not affected. It is compulsory to go to shopping centers of more than 20,000 m², if the department's incidence rate is greater than 200. Since September 30, young people aged 12 to 17 are also subject to it. As a reminder, the health pass is not a vaccination certificate. For it to be valid, you must either be fully vaccinated for a week,either present a negative PCR or antigen test of less than 72 hours or proof of cure (a positive test) of more than 11 days and less than 6 months. It is in the form of a QR code stored in the TousAntiCovid application or in paper format.

Read also Health pass: instructions for use, people concerned, penalties ... What you need to know about the law definitively adopted

Wearing a mask

is always compulsory in enclosed spaces and outdoors when distancing is not possible (markets, queues, station platforms, etc.).

Some municipalities have this summer reimposed the mask outdoors in some very busy places.

In cultural places where the health pass is required, it is not compulsory unless the manager of the establishment or the prefect decides otherwise.

Since

October 4

, it is no longer compulsory for children in primary schools located in departments where the incidence rate is below the alert threshold (50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants).

A certificate to travel.

Since July 1, Europeans can travel more easily within the continent thanks to certified evidence of vaccination or negative tests brought together in a single document.

In digital or paper format.

Please note, however, that each country can continue to apply specific rules.

Read alsoThe European health pass comes into force on July 1: all the answers to your questions

7. Reflexes to keep

The virus is transmitted by droplets and aerosols.

The barrier gestures detailed by the Ministry of Health must be observed to protect themselves and others:

  • Wash your hands regularly or use hydroalcoholic gel

  • Cough or sneeze into the crease of your elbow

  • Use disposable tissues

  • Wear a mask in public areas when the distance of two meters cannot be respected

  • Avoid touching your face

  • Air the rooms as often as possible, at least a few minutes every hour

  • Greet without shaking hands and stop hugging

8. What to do in case of symptoms?

The disease manifests itself with several symptoms, most often cough and fever.

The most important thing is to get tested.

According to the recommendations of the Ministry of Health, you should, in case of symptoms, stay at home and contact your doctor who will prescribe a test.

While waiting for the result, you must isolate yourself, wear a mask and prepare a list of people you could have infected.

If the test is positive,

isolation should last 10 days from the first symptoms.

Read alsoTest, isolation: the procedure to follow in case of suspicion of Covid-19

See you next week.

Source: lefigaro

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