A speech at the start of the school year, to "take stock of the fourth wave".
This Thursday, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran resumed weekly press conferences to address the French on vaccination, the health situation and the launch of a recall campaign in early September, alongside the pediatrician François Angoulvant, member of the French Pediatric Society, and infectious disease specialist Odile Launay, member of the Covid-19 vaccine committee.
Here's what to remember from this point.
A health situation on the right track?
According to the Minister of Health, "the virus has been steadily decreasing" for a few days in metropolitan France.
Stabilization is to be expected in the days and weeks to come, he assures us using models from the Institut Pasteur.
A downside, however: the coming back to school, and the return from vacation, which will cause some mixing that could undermine these estimates.
A vaccine that allowed "to avoid the worst"
Thanks to the vaccine, "we have avoided the worst," assured the minister.
"The massive vaccination of the French population has collectively protected us", recalling that the vaccine reduces the risks of serious forms of Covid-19.
Without the vaccination, the fourth wave "could have been the worst wave we have known," he said.
"We crossed the threshold of 48 million first-time vaccinated tonight" and we will exceed the target of 50 million "in the first week of September", greeted the minister later.
Booster doses in September
These vaccine recalls, announced by Emmanuel Macron in July and targeting people aged 65 and over as well as the most fragile, are "injections that will increase the concentration of antibodies", explained the infectious disease specialist Odile. Launay. "The antibodies will decrease more quickly in the elderly and immunocompromised," she explained, adding that "the variants and in particular the Delta variant, require having higher antibody concentrations than necessary with the original strain. ". Appointments will be possible from Monday, announced Olivier Véran, while campaigns will be launched in nursing homes in mid-September. The proposed injections will be Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna. These third doses will have no impact on the health pass,also clarified later the minister.
Third doses for the general public?
For the moment, there is no question of administering a booster dose of the vaccine to the general public, assured Olivier Véran, who is based on the opinion of the High Authority of Health (HAS) to reserve these reminders for fragile populations.
“Perhaps one day we will have to administer a third dose” to all, he warned, however, but that will depend on the results of studies carried out on the subject in the future.
Resisters who remain to be convinced
Olivier Véran also took the time to call "doctors to call their unvaccinated patients to accompany them and convince them", just like the mayors, who must inform in particular "in neighborhoods where vaccination is still late". "The issue is not the supply of vaccines, the issue is the demand, and we are stimulating it by all means", judged the minister, ensuring that "it is no longer understandable that some compatriots delay this process of protection for themselves and for those close to them ”.
He returned in particular to several arguments of people refractory to the vaccine.
“To say that we are waiting for the French vaccine is a bad excuse.
(…) Some may be afraid of the bite, but in intensive care, there are a lot of them, ”he explained.
“Others are affected by false information.
No, the RNA vaccine does not modify the human genome, no, it does not in any way disrupt the fertility of women, no, there are not thousands of hidden deaths from the vaccine or from the global conspiracy, ”he said. it listed.
The health pass maintained after November 15?
The health pass could be extended beyond November 15 "if the Covid does not disappear from our lives" by this deadline set by law, also said the Minister of Health.
"This pass cannot be extended beyond November 15, otherwise we would need a new law, which would be debated again in Parliament," he recalled.
"I am not saying that it cannot happen, it could happen if the Covid does not disappear from our lives in the next three months," he added.
A still alarming situation in overseas territories
In Overseas Territories, the incidence rates "have reached unmatched figures", which have caused "considerable health damage", deplores the minister, who however promised a strengthening "of support in caregivers, drugs, medical equipment and we will carry out other medical evacuations ”.
In Guadeloupe, "we have transformed airliners into medical planes", announced Olivier Véran.
He also deplored the doubts of the overseas population about the vaccine.
"Vaccines are available there as everywhere else, caregivers and firefighters are mobilized as everywhere else but a substantial part of the population doubts and considers that there are other means of fighting the virus, wrongly", lashed out. -he.
Vaccination in the Overseas Territories has recently progressed, which he praised.
The mild Delta variant in children
The pediatrician François Angoulvant estimated that those under ten and under six “are still less affected” by the Delta variant.
"When children are infected, they are asymptomatic or not very symptomatic in the majority of cases," he says.
He notes the presence of "a few rare serious forms in children, cases of acute Covid with severe respiratory damage often in children often with consequent comorbidities".
Pregnant women with Covid-19 can undergo premature deliveries, from which children can suffer, he also said.
An argument which pushes the pediatrician and Olivier Véran to encourage the vaccination of pregnant women.
