Aurélien Rousseau, the director general of the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of Île-de-France, who will soon be leaving his post, is sounding the alarm on the massive arrival of the fourth epidemic wave in the month of August for hospitals in Île-de-France.
"The fourth wave is there, even if it rises less quickly in Île-de-France than in certain coastal regions," he explains in the JDD. According to him, within a week, the incidence rate in the region doubled with a marked increase in 20-29 year olds, as did the test positivity rate. “The rebound has not yet affected intensive care units, but patients are arriving every day in infectious disease departments; the balance of hospital admissions and discharges has become positive again, ”he adds.
However, according to him, the rapid development of this fourth wave in August in Île-de-France presents "a major risk" for hospitals.
“The major risk would be an early arrival of the wave, in August, in a period of staff shortages.
If it takes place in September, more staff will have resumed, but we do not evacuate a year and a half of mobilization in a few weeks of leave.
"Nevertheless," all the warning systems have been reactivated.
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800,000 injections possible this week
To mitigate this wave and allow hospitals to hold on, Aurélien Rousseau insists on vaccination.
“We have a massive weapon”, he underlines while insisting: “Each injection carried out this week will be able to prevent an entry in sheave in a month.
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Faced with this, the director general of the ARS Île-de-France returns to the system put in place.
In the region, "it takes six days on average to get an appointment" against "12 just after the intervention of the President of the Republic, when everyone rushed to get one," he explains. he, adding that “this week, we have enough to carry out 800,000 injections: it is almost our record and a feat in the middle of summer.
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In addition to the vaccination centers, the ARS relies on doctors, pharmacists and nurses to reach out to the populations furthest from care.
“They are now the ones who must convince people who doubt.
»And to notice that Moderna's vaccinations are starting again strongly in the city and in particular in pharmacies in recent days.
However, the director of the ARS still notes inequalities.
“Since the start of the vaccination campaign, we have been making positive discrimination in the allocation of vaccine doses, by over-donating Seine-Saint-Denis, for example.
With health insurance, prefects and town halls, Île-de-France is at the forefront of the national operation "Go to", "he says.
According to him, this fourth wave and perhaps the others to come “will mainly affect the unvaccinated, especially young people, less worried about their health.
With these people, often precarious, it takes time to build trust without making them feel guilty, ”he concludes, noting that“ the culture of prevention is weaker among us than in many countries ”.
