• The health authorities are deploying a major device to test and vaccinate as a priority the population of the Bacalan district, to curb the spread of a rare variant, called E484Q.

  • Vaccination is opened in advance to people from 18 years old (from May 31 at the national level) while the first cases appeared in young subjects.

  • No serious form has appeared and the authorities note that there is no outbreak of cases, considering the situation under control.

Its small name is E484Q.

This variant of Covid-19 was spotted as the origin of a cluster of around thirty people this Thursday, in the Bacalan district in Bordeaux.

A screening center opened in the Pierre Tachou room in the neighborhood on Friday and an ephemeral vaccination center will be installed as a back-up, probably from Wednesday.

51 patients tested positive for this variant

Around a hundred cases have been identified around the world so we have very little perspective on this variant. "This is a mutation that we had seen on other types of variants but not on the English variant, it is the largest cluster in the world with 51 patients," explains Benjamin Daviller, medical advisor at the regional agency for health (ARS) Nouvelle-Aquitaine. We had around thirty cases in a health establishment in Ile-de-France, a few cases in the Grand-Est, Auvergne-Rhones-Alpes and a few others in Germany and England. It has not flared up anywhere ”. If the health authorities are on the bridge to slow down its spread in Bordeaux as much as possible, the latest news is reassuring.

Since Friday 900 tests have been carried out among the population of the district, alerted by the services of the town hall on the situation.

"Where we are a little reassured is that over the last three days, according to the analyzes of the virology service of the Bordeaux University Hospital, we have the same incidence rate [that is to say of positive cases ] than in other neighborhoods.

There is no particular outbreak.

And out of the 51 positive cases of this variant identified in the district, no serious form has yet appeared and no hospitalization has been necessary.

And, none of the people who contracted it were vaccinated.

19,000 doses for vaccination

Some 19,000 doses of Moderna and Pfizer will be assigned for the vaccination of the population of Bacalan, reported as a priority. "People show good citizenship and are observant, the population [10,000 inhabitants] will be vaccinated over three weeks", notes the medical adviser of the ARS. To guide residents and carry out "tracing", twelve people from health insurance were assigned as reinforcements.

To avoid too many people showing up at the same time, from Tuesday noon appointments on online platforms will be open to residents of the neighborhood. In addition to the ephemeral center announced, vaccination can be done at the Bordeaux-Lac mega-center but also at the Bouscat and Mérignac hospitals, "with dedicated lines each time", specifies Benjamin Daviller. While at the national level the expansion of vaccination to over 18s opens from May 31, it will be accelerated in Bacalan from Tuesday noon to counter the progression of the variant as much as possible.

Transgenerational vaccination is one of the strong points of the strategy, told AFP Professor Denis Malvy, infectious disease specialist at Bordeaux University Hospital and member of the Scientific Council: "This last point is all the more necessary since this cluster mainly concerns young people. , which make simple shapes [of Covid-19].

We know that this mutation is associated with transmissibility, we cannot play with fire and let it set in.

"

Society

Coronavirus in Bordeaux: A cluster in the Bacalan district, 30 cases identified

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Vaccination in New Aquitaine

Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the second region in France in terms of vaccination coverage: 80% of over 75s are vaccinated and 50% of over 50s.

Currently, 33% of the population, all age groups combined, is vaccinated in Gironde.

"We should have a stop in the circulation of the virus and an increased quality of life, when we approach 70% of the entire French population vaccinated," said Benjamin Daviller, medical advisor at the regional health agency (ARS) Nouvelle-Aquitaine .

  • Health

  • Vaccination

  • Aquitaine

  • Coronavirus

  • Covid 19

  • Bordeaux