Europe1 .fr with AFP 2:57 p.m., June 21, 2022

The government called on Tuesday the oldest to receive the booster injection against Covid "as soon as possible", while a "moderate epidemic recovery" begins.

The Ministry of Health said it was particularly worried about nursing home residents, when only 48% of eligible people are vaccinated.

A quarter of eligible people have received their second booster vaccine against Covid, a "clearly insufficient" rate according to the government, which on Tuesday called on the oldest to receive the injection "as soon as possible", while a "recovery moderate epidemic" begins.

"It's not going fast enough, there are not enough people coming to be vaccinated," worried the Ministry of Health during a press briefing.

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To date, less than 2.2 million second boosters have been injected, out of more than 8.7 million eligible people - mainly those over 60, as well as the immunocompromised.

However, with almost 200,000 "fourth dose", the past week was the most prolific since the launch of the campaign in mid-March.

But the rule of six months since the first reminder inflates in parallel the eligible population, which will exceed 9 million at the beginning of July.

Concern for nursing home residents

The concern is particularly acute for residents of nursing homes (48% of eligible vaccinated) and other people over the age of 80 (31%), who must "get vaccinated as soon as possible to get through the summer and fall serenely," insisted the ministry.

Also pointing to "clearly insufficient vaccination rates", Professor Alain Fischer, President of the Vaccine Strategy Guidance Council, stressed that the "significant decrease" in the protection generated by the first booster "fully justifies" a new dose. in the oldest to "protect them from serious forms until the fall".

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Especially since the “moderate epidemic recovery” observed in recent weeks (the number of cases has more than doubled in three weeks) “is accompanied by a small resumption of hospitalizations” and risks leading to “a staggered increase in the time" of admissions to critical care and deaths, he noted.

All the more reason not to wait for new vaccines - especially those from Pfizer, Moderna, Sanofi and Hipra, he said - even if "ideally they would be available at the time of the flu campaign" for a new reminder at the end of the year.