Vaccinate better even if it means vaccinating less.
This is the strategy adopted by the government, which announced on Tuesday that the time between the two injections will finally be maintained at three weeks.
While the epidemic resumption and the threat of variants are worrying, the question had arisen of postponing the booster of Pfizer and Moderna vaccine to six weeks, essential to be fully protected against a serious form of Covid.
This more flexible schedule should make it possible to recover more first doses and therefore to immunize as many French people as possible, as quickly as possible, although only partially.
“But I note an absence of scientific consensus, declared the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran.
This period is therefore maintained from 21 to 28 days.
“For nursing home residents, it will be three weeks maximum.
How does the government justify this decision?
Because he made the choice of "security" in the face of divided experts on the subject.
On the one hand, those who are in favor of it argue that if we want to vaccinate more, we must postpone the second dose for a few weeks.
Yes, but here it is, other voices are raised to warn: this shift, they say, is not without risk.
Pfizer normally allows three weeks between the two injections, four for Moderna.
Changing the rule could have an impact.
"We do not know the consequences of this spacing up to 42 days," says "Mr. vaccine" Alain Fischer, especially since the elderly and sick, priority in this campaign, already have a more fragile immune system.
Preliminary data released by Israel sounds like a warning.
They show that those over 60 who have not yet had their booster, called "first-time vaccines", are only protected at 33%.
“It's a disappointment, admits Alain Fischer because this protection was 50% in the clinical trials of Pfizer and Moderna.
Finally, in a more practical way, "the longer the delay, the greater the risk of forgetting his appointment," recalled the Minister of Health.
What do the health authorities say?
On January 7, the Medicines Agency (ANSM) specified: “The time limit for administering the second dose may be considered between 21 and 42 days in view of the specific current circumstances.
The High Authority for Health (HAS), from this weekend, pleaded in favor of an extension of the time between the two injections, this strategy making it possible to immunize 700,000 additional primary vaccines from the first month.
"We make recommendations, the government can follow us or not," says the HAS.
But for the Ministry of Health, this catching up, whether it is 20 or 40 days, will have to take place anyway, in other words the increase in the number of immunized will be relative.
“If we had extended to six weeks, we would not have gained that much in capacity.
The benefit would have been insufficient in relation to the risk.
"
Why did the United Kingdom choose to extend the deadlines?
In addition to Quebec and Denmark, the United Kingdom has decided to space the doses up to 12 weeks.
"Clearly, they chose to take this risk because their first objective is to counter the epidemic explosion due to the variant," explains Christine Rouzioux, professor in virology.
And then it allows them to say:
We did it, we vaccinated even though people only received one dose.
"But in France, which is currently not experiencing an epidemic outbreak, it is better not to rush, according to the virologist, and" not to be satisfied with a modest immunity ".
In addition, while Pfizer continues the delays on its deliveries, keeping the same departure schedule, as recommended by the manufacturer, is a "way of forcing his hand".
“As they say:
It takes three weeks between injections
, they cannot blame us for having spaced out the doses, but we can attack them on their broken promises.
"Be careful, however, if the delivery problems were repeated," nothing says that the second injection should not be postponed to four then five weeks ", warns Roger Salamon, professor in epidemiology and former president of the High council of public health .
One thing is certain, on the ground, supply tensions worry.
"We had to stop the first doses to secure the seconds," says Clotilde Latarche, epidemiologist at the Nancy University Hospital (Meurthe-et-Moselle).
And now the Pasteur Institute which is giving up its vaccine, AstraZeneca late… We have the impression of going from bad news to bad news.
"
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VIDEO. Vaccine: the time between the two doses of Pfizer maintained at "3 or 4 weeks", announces Véran