"And you, would you get vaccinated?"
Aren't you afraid of being a guinea pig?
These little phrases echoed around Christmas tables, always with the same argument, we lack perspective, too few have been immunized ...
Too little, really?
United States, Great Britain, Switzerland, Serbia, Israel, Dubai, Mexico, it is now nearly 5 million people who have already received the anti-Covid injection.
It is the equivalent of the whole of Ireland, of the three Baltic countries combined or of a city like Brasilia.
Like all of Europe, France, which is holding a Defense Council this Tuesday, has kicked off its campaign this Sunday.
"The experience of foreign countries can reassure us, vaccines are safe", immediately asks Dominique Deplanque, professor of pharmacology in Lille (North), aligned with his colleagues.
Of course, there is no question for him to deny the handful of unexpected side effects: a few severe allergic reactions across the Channel and the Atlantic, called in the jargon anaphylactic shock.
"It is eight cases out of several million," proclaims public health expert Anne Sénéquier.
“It ignited a small warning, concedes the infectious disease specialist Jean-Daniel Lelièvre, but we are talking about people who already had serious allergies, this kind of event does not happen every four mornings.
“In the process, the High Authority for Health (HAS) advised against vaccination for these particular profiles.
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“For the rest, nothing new compared to the classic effects observed in clinical trials, temporary fatigue, a little pain at the injection site, moderate fever,” reports Stéphane Paul, immunologist at the CHU de Saint-Etienne (Loire ) and member of the Covid-19 Vaccines Committee.
As for the four cases of temporary facial paralysis, they have been identified, without a link with the injections being able to be definitively established.
“For the record,” continues Professor Paul, “each vaccine in development has been tested on nearly 40,000 people, which is no small feat.
"
Similar genetic profiles
Moreover, when we ask doctors if they are reassured by the international experience, they answer that they already were reassured by the large number of participants in clinical trials.
“They allowed us to see a lot of things.
But real-life vaccination teaches us even more.
For example, see if new inconveniences appear from 100,000 or 1 million vaccinated.
For the moment, this is not the case ”, enthuses Bruno Lina, virologist and member of the scientific council, responsible for enlightening the government on the health crisis.
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And if the specialists are watching with such attention what is happening in our neighbors, it is also to know what to expect: "More than 1 million immunized in England and 2 million in the United States, without problem … Knowing that our genetic profiles are very close, there is no reason to be afraid.
If there were a lot of side effects in France, it would be incomprehensible ”, projects pharmacologist Dominique Deplanque.
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With its doses of Sputnik V, Russia was one of the first in the world to inaugurate the vaccination ball in early December.
“We don't have any data from them, and we won't.
This is not a scientific question, but a geopolitical one, ”warns Professor Lina.
Regarding China, the country has not yet completed its tests as the experimental vaccines are already being injected.
“It would never happen in France.
We cannot precipitate events in this way, ”exclaims immunologist Stéphane Paul.
If Europe has promised full transparency, there are still questions here that only time will answer.
"Will the vaccine be effective over time?"
To break the chains of transmission, it must be at least six months to a year, estimates Anne Sénéquier, co-director of the global health observatory at the Institute of International Relations (Iris).
Will it prevent being contagious or will it only prevent severe forms of the disease?
It is not at all the same thing and it will be necessary to know it quickly to adapt our strategy against the virus.
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Reinforced surveillance in France
In France, these questions arise all the more since if a few people were immunized in public this Sunday, including Mauricette, the very first of 78 years, the real campaign in nursing homes begins this week.
And as the heavy logistical machine kicks in, the monitoring of side effects hardens.
“The stake is immense, we cannot miss each other”, loose Bruno Lina.
In addition to reinforced monitoring by the health authorities, a new file called “SI Vaccin Covid” has just been created to identify people eligible for vaccination. "But there is one effect over which science has no control, and that is the public's doubt," worries Professor Stéphane Paul. No matter how much we make the best vaccine in the world, if the French don't accept it, it won't work. "