A fourth vaccine against Covid-19 is available in Europe.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) delivered its verdict on April 20 on the vaccine from the American group
Johnson & Johnson.
The latter had decided to delay the deployment of its vaccine in Europe after the decision of the American health authorities to recommend "
a pause
" in its use the time to investigate six cases of thrombosis.
The EMA considers that blood clots should be added to the
rare side effects
but believes that "
the overall benefits of the vaccine ... outweigh the risks of side effects
".
To discover
Covid-19: instructions for use of self-tests
Since April 24, Johnson & Johnson injections have started in France.
Eight million doses are expected by the end of June, 200,000 are already available.
This “viral vector” vaccine, developed by the
Janssen
subsidiary
, has many advantages: as a single injection, it can be kept for three months in a normal refrigerator.
It is 66.9% effective on average against moderate and severe forms of Covid-19.
In France, it is reserved for people
over 55 years old
.
Read also: AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson: adenoviruses at the center of suspicion
According to the Minister of Health, AstraZeneca and Janssen are "essential" for the success of the vaccine campaign to which he has just put a boost. Olivier Véran had announced the opening of the vaccination against Covid-19 to all
people over 55 years old from April 12.
In detail, the 55-69 age group can benefit from the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccine - while since April 16, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are available from 60 years old. For these last two vaccines the interval between the two doses is increased to 6 weeks instead of 4. According to the
schedule
unveiled by the President of the Republic at the end of March, it will be the turn of the over 50s to be eligible for vaccination in mid-May and then of all French adults in mid-June.
Read also: Vaccines: will a third dose be necessary?
For people over 55, slots are dedicated to
“
second-line”
jobs
.
In addition to members of the National Education and the police, 400,000 workers have been eligible since April 24.
These include bus drivers, truck drivers, cashiers, funeral directors or slaughterhouse workers, maintenance officers or security guards.
To read also: Vaccination: these thousands of niches which do not find a taker in France
This announcement allows the government to counter reluctance to the
AstraZeneca
vaccine
.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recognized the existence of a link between rare cases of serious thrombosis and the vaccine from the Anglo-Swedish laboratory.
However, the risk of blood clots is minimal and, as with Janssen's vaccine, the risk / benefit balance remains positive.
In France, however, mistrust has settled in the population causing the cancellation of many appointments in vaccination centers, doctors and pharmacists.
Read also: AstraZeneca vaccine: what we know about rare atypical thromboses
European countries have dispersed age restrictions on the injection of serum.
It is reserved for over 60s in Germany, Italy or the Netherlands, 55 in Belgium, 30 in the United Kingdom.
In France, the High Authority of Health (HAS) had recommended on March 19 the resumption "
without delay
" of vaccination in France but for those over 55 years old only.
For
people under 55 who have already received a first dose
, the High Authority for Health recommends the injection of a second dose of another vaccine, Pfizer or Moderna.
Read also: Covid-19: why did you choose to combine AstraZeneca's vaccine with another?
The government, which aims for a target of 400,000 daily injections, has converted to
mass vaccination
with the opening of around 100 vaccinodromes.
In Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), the Stade de France has been hosting since April 6 a giant vaccination center capable of receiving 2,000 people per day.
The army, for its part, is opening seven large permanent vaccination centers in metropolitan military hospitals.
To read also: Alain Fischer: "Our objective is 400,000 injections per day in April"
It is also necessary that the
doses are sufficient
.
The acceleration of deliveries should begin this month, in particular thanks to Pfizer / BioNtech, which will deliver 50 million additional doses of vaccine to the EU in the second quarter.
European Commissioner Thierry Breton is reassuring and affirms that Europe will have the necessary doses to vaccinate “70% of adults” by mid-July.
Read also: Covid-19: where are we with deliveries and stocks of vaccines?
In this regularly updated article,
Le Figaro
offers you a full update on vaccines and the vaccination campaign in France:
Where is the vaccination campaign?
Who can get vaccinated and when?
Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca… What vaccines are available against Covid-19?
Messenger RNA, viral vector, attenuated virus ... What types of vaccine?
Why get vaccinated?
Should we fear side effects?
1. Where is the vaccination campaign?
A vaccinodrome has been installed in the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome.
GONZALO FUENTES / REUTERS
In France.
As of April 26, 2021
, 14,316,501 people (21.37% of French people)
among priority audiences have received a first dose of vaccine in France, according to the CovidTracker site.
5,908,514
of them received the two necessary injections and are therefore vaccinated (8.82% of French people).
At the end of August, according to the government, all French people who wish will be vaccinated.
Read also: Vaccine against Covid-19: where is France compared to its neighbors?
In the world
.
Compared to the size of the population,
it is Israel that leads the vaccination race by far,
according to data from Our world in data.
The country is however preceded by the Seychelles.
The archipelago, which has initiated mass vaccination in order to reopen its borders to tourists as quickly as possible, is close to collective immunity.
The United Kingdom, in fifth place for the injection of the first dose, is lagging behind on the second injection.
SEE ALSO -
"AstraZeneca in a way made fun of Europeans", denounces Clément Beaune
Read also: Covid-19: after a year of the epidemic, is the United Kingdom out of the woods?
2. Who can get vaccinated and when?
The vaccination campaign started at the end of December 2020. BENOIT TESSIER / REUTERS
How's it going ?
Vaccination against Covid-19 is done in two stages: a first intramuscular injection in the arm, followed by a second after a period of six weeks and up to twelve weeks for the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Johnson & Johnson's vaccine requires only one dose.
• At the end of
December 2020,
France started its
vaccination campaign
. After the residents of nursing homes vaccinated as a priority, the staff of establishments welcoming the elderly, caregivers and firefighters over 50 years or frail were able to benefit from the vaccine. From
January 18,
people
over the age of 75
but also people "
with pathologies leading to a very high risk of severe form of the disease
" (severe chronic renal failure, people with organ transplants, trisomy 21, advanced cancers, etc.), regardless of their age, had the opportunity to be vaccinated by appointment in one of the
vaccination centers
open throughout the country.
Since March 27, vaccination is open to people
aged 70 to 74
without comorbidity.
Read also: Covid-19: who can be vaccinated, where, by whom and with what product?
Registration
is done via the national number
0800 009 110
or by directly calling a vaccination center referenced on sante.fr.
Or by using online medical appointment
booking
platforms -
Doctolib
,
Maiia
and
Keldoc
.
A new application, “Quickly my dose” developed by the CovidTracker site, has also been launched to help eligible people find an appointment in their department.
Read also: Covid-19: how to make an appointment to be vaccinated?
Since April 12,
all people
over the age of 55
can be vaccinated by a general practitioner in their office with the AstraZeneca vaccine, by a nurse or
their pharmacist
without a medical prescription.
The appointment can be made on site or on the Covid-pharma website online since March 8.
Read also: Covid-19: how will the vaccination in pharmacies take place?
• Since April 16, vaccination with RNA vaccines has been open to all French people
aged 60 to 69
and not presenting any particular pathology.
It will then be the turn of the
50-54 year-olds in mid-May,
according to the statements of the President of the Republic.
• Finally, the rest of the adult population will be able to be vaccinated from
mid-June
.
However, people who are not yet eligible for vaccination can benefit from a vaccine now if they make themselves known to vaccination centers, pharmacies or doctors.
In order not to throw away the surplus of prepared doses that could not have been injected during the day, the authorities are encouraging
the vaccination of non-priority volunteers
.
The Covidlist application, for example, makes it possible to be alerted in the event of available doses.
The
children and adolescents
are currently not affected by vaccination against Covid-19 but the issue is debated in the scientific community.
The United States, the United Kingdom are considering it.
Pfizer / BioNtech announces 100% efficacy of its vaccine for 12-15 year olds.
Should you be vaccinated if you have already had the Covid?
According to the High Authority for Health, there is no need to systematically vaccinate people who have already developed a symptomatic form of Covid-19.
They can however benefit from it with the agreement of their doctor and after a minimum period of 3 months from the onset of symptoms and a recommended period of 6 months.
In its last opinion published on February 12, 2021, the HAS recommends in these cases the use of a single dose of vaccine.
SEE ALSO -
Emmanuel Macron provides a vaccine to "all French people who want it" by the "end of summer"
3. Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca… What vaccines are available against Covid-19?
AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored in a regular refrigerator.
JOE GIDDENS / AFP
WHO has identified more than 60 candidate vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in human clinical trials around the world.
In Europe, four
vaccines
have so far been authorized by the European Commission after a favorable opinion from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). That of the German-American
Pfizer / BioNTech
on December 21, that of the American
Moderna
on January 6. A third vaccine, that of the Swedish-British
Astra-Zeneca / Oxford
was approved on January 29 by the EMA. Finally the vaccine of the American
Johnson & Johnson
developed by its subsidiary
Janssen
was approved on March 11 in Europe.
They immediately obtained marketing authorization from the French National Authority for Health.
On April 13, Johnson & Johnson, however, decided to delay the deployment of its vaccine in Europe while investigating six cases of serious thrombosis that occurred in the United States after the injection.
The German vaccine CureVac aims to be marketed in the second quarter of 2021. The only French vaccine, developed by Sanofi and GSK, would not be available until the end of the year.
In total,
the European Union has concluded six contracts
with Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi, CureVac,
for a total of 2.5 billion doses
.
Negotiations are underway with Valneva and Novavax.
Enough to vaccinate the entire European population.
France has 15% of European vaccine pre-orders, or ultimately
more than 200 million doses
according to the Ministry of Health.
So far, France has received nearly 20 million doses of the anti-Covid vaccine.
Read also: Covid-19: will we be able to choose our vaccine?
4. Messenger RNA, viral vector, attenuated virus ... What types of vaccine?
The vaccines developed against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus use different techniques.
Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines:
These are those from Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna and CureVac.
For the first two already on the market, the announced efficiency rate is over 90%.
This very recent technology uses fragments of RNA from the virus which, once in the body's cells, will make them manufacture viral proteins which will trigger the immune reaction.
This RNA is then quickly eliminated by the body and never enters the nucleus of the cell and has no effect on the genome, specifies the Ministry of Health.
Disadvantage ?
They can only be stored long term at very low temperature (-70 ° Celsius for the first, -20 ° C for the second).
Read also: Covid: Can RNA Vaccines Modify Our DNA?
The
"
inactivated vaccines
"
and
"
live attenuated vaccines
": This is the most common method already used for influenza, rubella or measles and developed against the 19-Covid by Chinese Sinovac and Sinopharm. These vaccines are based on an injection of the whole virus previously rendered harmless in order to trigger an immune response in the event of infection.
Vaccines with a
“
non-replicating viral vector
”
:
These are those of AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
A harmless virus is used to transport the genetic material of the coronavirus, making the protein that will trigger an immune response.
They have the advantage of being stored at refrigerator temperature, between two and eight degrees Celsius.
Read also: 3 types of vaccine, very different, to fight against Covid-19
The vaccine developed by Sanofi Pasteur with the English GSK is based on the
recombinant protein
method
.
We do not present the whole virus, but fragments of its envelope or its envelope emptied of the virus.
Vaccines against hepatitis B or papillomavirus are made using this method.
To read also: Price, conservation, effectiveness ... The article to know everything about the different vaccines
5. Why get vaccinated?
Vaccination against Covid-19, which is
free
in France, is
not mandatory
.
The goal of the campaign determined by the Ministry of Health is
to reduce the number of severe forms of COVID-19
.
The second more uncertain goal is to reduce the risk of transmission of the virus from person to person.
However, if the vaccine protects against a "
deep
The virus can eventually be transmitted without causing any symptoms other than a mild cold.
Contagiousness will therefore be lower but not eliminated.
Respect for barrier gestures therefore remains essential pending collective immunity which would not be attainable in 2021 according to the WHO.
If Europe is considering the establishment of a health passport to save the tourist season, the French government has ruled out this track and is considering a health pass that could also include test results.
Read also: Should or not be vaccinated against Covid?
A little guide for the undecided
According to an Odoxa-Backbone Consulting survey for
Le Figaro
and
Franceinfo
, a majority of French people (61%) now want to be protected against Covid-19.
They were 42% before Christmas and the start of the vaccination campaign.
6. Should we fear side effects?
The side effects associated with the anti-Covid vaccines authorized in France
are mainly mild to moderate
: pain at the point of entry of the injection, chills, fevers or headaches.
However, rare cases of serious allergic reactions
have been reported during clinical trials and the first few weeks of vaccination. Only
one in 100,000 people get
the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine according to US health officials. If the
benefit / risk ratio is not called into question
for the general population, the High Authority for Health has therefore decided not to recommend vaccination "
to people who have presented serious allergic manifestations such as anaphylactic reactions.
".
The vaccine is of course contraindicated in the event of hypersensitivity to the active substance or to one of its excipients.
Read also: Covid-19: which vaccine injection for people with allergies?
The National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products
(ANSM) has set up a specific system for reinforced monitoring of the adverse effects of anti-Covid-19 vaccines on French territory. On signalement-sante.gouv.fr, health professionals and users can report any adverse effects following vaccination. According to its latest situation update of April 23, 14,988 cases of adverse effects on more than 8 million injections have been analyzed for the Comirnaty vaccine from Pfizer / BioNTech. The majority are non-serious and more frequent after the injection of the second dose. 1019 cases of adverse effects were analyzed for the Moderna vaccine. Finally, since the start of vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine, 11,206 cases of adverse effects have been analyzed over more than 3 million injections.The vast majority of these cases concern flu-like symptoms, often of high intensity. "
5 new cases of atypical thrombosis were analyzed during this period, bringing the total to 27 cases since the start of vaccination, including 8 deaths
. "
Read also: Covid-19: headaches, fatigue ... signs of vaccine effectiveness
SEE ALSO -
Why it is (almost) normal to experience side effects after a vaccine
Read also: Vaccines: few serious side effects
