Covid vaccines: health authorities recommend two campaigns this year

Europe 1 with AFP 8:04 p.m., February 24, 2023

The French health authorities recommended on Friday to revaccinate the people most at risk of serious Covid in the spring, then to carry out a broader campaign in the fall without, however, extending it to the entire population.

The High Authority for Health (HAS) "recommends that people aged 80 and over, immunocompromised people and people at very high risk of the disease can benefit from an additional booster from the spring", she said. detailed in a press release.

At least six months after the last vaccination

However, this new dose must wait at least six months after the last vaccination or the last infection to date.

The HAS, whose opinions are generally followed by the government, then recommends a campaign in the fall, this time targeted more broadly at all people at risk.

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This includes "people with certain comorbidities", such as diabetes or obesity, "regardless of their age, people aged 65 and over as well as pregnant women", said the authority, also including the entourage of these people.

The effectiveness of booster doses specified

These recommendations come at a time when a French study has just clarified the effectiveness of booster doses: these appear to be useful for reinforcing protection against serious forms, but this effect lasts little over time.

It is therefore important to choose the time of this booster vaccination carefully, even if this decision is made complex by the significant frequency of the waves of Covid, much less predictable than the annual return of the flu.

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The HAS recommends, however, to couple a priori the anti-Covid fall campaign with that of vaccination against seasonal influenza.

She stresses that the organization would thus be easier and the echo greater.

But "we must not exclude the possibility of setting up a vaccination campaign at any time if the epidemiological situation justifies it, in particular for immunocompromised and / or vulnerable people", she warns.

In the event of the emergence of a more dangerous or contagious variant, it would even be possible to extend this campaign to the entire population, according to the HAS.