"
The fifth wave is here,
" warned Gabriel Attal, Wednesday, November 17, and France is no exception. For several weeks, the world and particularly Europe have been affected by a major epidemic rebound. Some countries have decided to respond drastically. This is the case of Austria, which has reconfigured its population since Monday, or the Netherlands, which now close their bars and restaurants at 8 p.m. Slovakia, for its part, decided to confine the unvaccinated, when Germany could decide in the days to come to isolate the inhabitants of certain particularly affected regions. To effectively face this fifth wave, the French government is meeting on Wednesday in the health defense council.Several measures could be announced at its end.
A third dose of vaccine for all?
The booster dose currently only concerns people over 65 years of age or at risk, as well as caregivers.
It will be necessary to extend their health pass from December 15.
But it could even go even faster: Monday, during the Day of the Order of Pharmacists in Paris, Jean-François Delfraissy revealed that the Scientific Council had "
pushed
" for the third dose to be subject to the health pass "
from the middle of next week
”.
According to him, this measure will be "
announced the day after tomorrow
“, Namely Wednesday in the Council of Ministers.
For 50-64 year olds, the recall will be offered from December 1.
Emmanuel Macron had announced it on November 9, without waiting for the opinion of the High Authority for Health (HAS), responsible for inspiring the policy of the executive on these issues.
Read alsoCovid-19: third vaccine dose, many questions still unanswered
But the government could go further, quickly expanding it to all adults. "
I would not be surprised that we are gradually moving towards vaccine booster shots for all adults who have been vaccinated, that's the meaning of the story,
" said the head of state on Friday, November 19, at the time of a trip to the North. The Scientific Council and the Vaccine Strategy Orientation Council recommend it in any case. According to them, extending the reminder to all adults could help "
curb the epidemic and reduce the number of serious forms
".
The COSV, chaired by immunologist Alain Fischer, is the first to have said so, in an opinion dated Friday.
In another opinion dated Saturday and made public on Monday, the Scientific Council, chaired by Jean-François Delfraissy, supports this hypothesis.
An expansion of teleworking?
In its latest opinion, the Scientific Council is also pushing for an “
expansion of teleworking
”. The Minister of Labor, Élisabeth Borne, preferred to call on companies on Monday to "re-mobilize" on the respect of barrier gestures and in particular the wearing of a mask, in order to be able to face the fifth wave of Covid-19 by avoiding "
stronger constraints
”. Asked about a possible tightening of the rules on teleworking if the situation deteriorates, she remained evasive, indicating that it was not possible "
to exclude in principle answers for the future
". In a
20-minute
interview
given on November 16, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran was just as cautious, referring to a tool "
which we used when necessary
”and which“
is part of the measures that we could mobilize
”.
But "
we are not there yet today,
" he said.
Read alsoThe return of compulsory teleworking would be "a mistake" according to Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux
The government indeed seems cautious at the idea of returning to the telework box, in particular for fear that this measure will reinforce the isolation of workers or the loss of link.
"
The day when theaters, restaurants and shopping centers will be closed, with 100% teleworking, is not in sight
", moreover recently confided a ministerial adviser to the
Parisian
.
Reimpose the wearing of the mask?
In its last opinion delivered to the government on November 20, the Scientific Council also advised to "
maintain and strengthen barrier gestures, individual and collective [...] in particular the wearing of a mask
", while asking for its "
reintroduction in certain places
". Many departments have already taken the plunge. In the Haut-Rhin, for example, the mask will be compulsory on all Christmas markets. In Loire-Atlantique, it has once again become the norm in places subject to the sanitary pass. In the Côtes-d'Armor, it remains mandatory outdoors for all pedestrians over the age of 11, until December 31, 2021. In total, some 28 departments have reinstated the wearing of masks in different ways.
Read also Covid-19: the map of the departments which reimpose the wearing of the mask outdoors
This is therefore one of the solutions that the government could consider at the national level, even if no clue has yet been given on this subject.
As a reminder, the mask is compulsory again in primary school since November 15.
It will also be required from the age of 11 this winter for the ski lifts of ski resorts.
The return to gauges in places at risk?
On November 16, on France Inter, government spokesman Gabriel Attal explained that there was "
no reason to believe
" today that the end of year celebrations are tarnished by gauges as in 2020. But "
it is necessary that the immunity conferred by the vaccine continues and therefore that the eligible French make their vaccination booster
", he stressed.
The government could nevertheless be tempted to return to these gauges in theaters or sports to limit the circulation of the virus.
Read alsoCovid-19: should we reinstate free screening tests?
In anticipation, the festival of Trans musicales in Rennes has announced that only 75% of the seats for its next edition, from December 1 to 5, will be on sale for the moment, as reported by
Ouest-France
.
"
If the health situation finally allows the gauges to be kept at 11% until the festival, and except against the order of the competent authorities, we will put the remaining 25% of places on sale on Monday, November 29 at the latest, and before if possible
", said the festival.
No containment in sight
Unlike some of its neighbors, France does not seem inclined, for the moment, to resort to the confinement of its population, to fight against the fifth wave. Several government statements point in this direction. In
We are live
, on France 2, on November 14, Gabriel Attal assured that "
for the moment, it is absolutely out of the question to speak of re-containment in our country, because we have a very high vaccination rate
" , stressing on the other hand that "
nothing must never be excluded in principle
". On November 16, on France Inter, the government spokesman had made more or less the same words: "
There is absolutely no confinement which is planned today, neither from near nor far.
".
As on France 2, he nevertheless repeated that he should "
never exclude anything in principle
".
The same day, in an interview given at
20 minutes
, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran had also swept this hypothesis: “
We are clearly not there.
Under the current conditions of circulation of the virus, […] confinement would be disproportionate
”.
