• With the announcement of Germany to offer a third dose of vaccine against the coronavirus to part of its population, the subject is back on the front of the stage in France.

  • For now, the government intends to offer a vaccine booster at the start of the school year for people at risk, but does not plan to extend this booster to the rest of the population to fight against the Delta variant.

  • For experts, the priority remains above all to vaccinate the maximum number of people in France with two doses, but also in the rest of the world, to fight effectively against the virus.

Will France follow suit?

On Sunday, Germany announced that it would offer a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to some of these citizens at the start of the school year.

The German ministry explained that it made the decision after the publication of studies showing that the immune response was reduced in certain vulnerable populations, even fully vaccinated.

The German authorities are going further since this booster dose will also be offered to people vaccinated with AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, i.e. all those who have not received messenger RNA serum.

This position brings back the possibility of offering the French a third dose to fight against the spread of the Delta variant, but is it really wise?

Has the administration of a third dose already been proven in other countries?

It is still too early to tell since for the moment Israel is the only country to have implemented this health policy and only since Sunday.

Anyone over the age of 60 who was vaccinated more than five months ago can receive a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett justified this “complementary vaccination campaign” by assuring that “a few days after the 3rd dose, you will have more immune defenses”.

However, other countries could soon follow suit.

According to the

Daily Telegraph

, the United Kingdom would consider offering this third dose by the end of the summer to people over 50 years old or considered vulnerable, or 32 million Britons.

In the United States, Anthony Fauci, America's leading infectious disease expert, told CNN on July 25 that U.S. health officials were looking at data to determine when it might take to boost the immune system.

He also assured that a third dose might be necessary in the United States for people with immunosuppression.

What is the current French position on the issue?

In France, the hypothesis of a third dose against the coronavirus is currently the subject of debate.

On July 6, the Scientific Council recommended a booster vaccination for people over 80 years old living in nursing homes or at home.

Based on this opinion, Emmanuel Macron announced in his speech six days later, the establishment of a “recall campaign” in early September for first-time vaccinees.

A little later, in its opinion of July 16, 2021, the High Authority for Health (HAS) rejected "for the moment" the option of a third dose except for the most vulnerable and the oldest.

Does France have the means to offer this third dose?

According to Michaël Rochoy, general practitioner, researcher in epidemiology and member of the collective “On the side of science”, there have never been enough doses in France to vaccinate everyone.

“Demand has always been modeled on supply, because we have gradually opened up in successive stages.

But if all the people who have two doses of vaccine wanted a third one today, it would be a war to find a niche on Doctolib ”, he assures us.

There are in fact already disparities in the territory.

If in big cities, it is quite easy to find a niche, it is sometimes necessary to wait several days, even several weeks in certain regions, in particular because of the extension of the health pass.

What would be the advantages and disadvantages of a third dose for everyone?

In its opinion of July 16, 2021, the Haute Autorité de santé explains that "while it seems very likely that a booster injection will indeed provide a boost effect (...), the data available to date do not allow a precise assessment of the impact or the need for such a booster on the prevention of vaccine failures ”. If the individual benefit is currently recognized for immunocompromised people and the elderly, the interest for the rest of the population has not yet been decided scientifically.

“Going from two doses to three doses is a bit like when we say that you have to go from a surgical mask to an FFP2 mask,” compares Michaël Rochoy.

Obviously we gain a little in efficiency and individual benefit, but ultimately what is effective is that everyone wears a mask.

It's the same principle for vaccination: what is effective is that everyone is vaccinated against Covid, rather than some people being vaccinated three times and others not.

"

Is a third dose a priority?

In its press release, the HAS regretted the slowdown in vaccinations in mid-July and considered that the priority for the coming weeks was to do everything possible to vaccinate more French people. The High Authority was particularly concerned about insufficient vaccination coverage among the oldest (73.8% for those over 80). The priority according to scientists therefore remains to vaccinate those most at risk and to ensure that the majority of the population has a complete vaccination schedule.

However, the priority is not only national for Michaël Rochoy who recalls that a pandemic is managed at the global level.

"Everyone must have a complete vaccination schedule, first because a life in Albania is no less valuable than a life in France, but also because if there are still countries with a low vaccine coverage, there is a risk that new variants and other complications will emerge which will have repercussions on us, ”explains the epidemiologist.

On July 21, the World Health Organization asked rich countries not to vaccinate their youngest populations, but rather to donate their surplus doses to poor countries.

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