Traveling to Roissy airport on Saturday, Prime Minister Jean Castex said that "the variants (South African and Brazilian)" "tended to regress" in France.

Invited Sunday evening on Europe 1, Olivier Guérin, member of the Scientific Council and doctor at the University Hospital of Nice, nevertheless invites "extreme vigilance" on the subject.

INTERVIEW

In France, passengers from five countries at risk (Brazil, India, South Africa, Argentina and Chile) have been subject since Saturday to a new anti-Covid protocol when they arrive on French soil.

Traveling to Roissy airport on Sunday to observe the implementation of this protocol, the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, affirmed that "the variants (South African and Brazilian)" had "a tendency to regress".

Invited Sunday evening on Europe 1, Olivier Guérin, member of the Scientific Council and head of the geriatrics pole of the University Hospital of Nice, nevertheless invites "extreme vigilance" on the subject.

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Vaccination, "a differential advantage" for the Brazilian variant

Admittedly, these two strains currently represent less than 5% of detections.

But the Scientific Council warned, in mid-April, of a potentially upward trend in the coming months.

"We know that the English variant dominates when it is confronted with the Brazilian or South African (variant)", explains Olivier Guérin.

According to him, this predominance would probably also apply to the Indian variant.

“Even if there, the data is extremely fragmented for the moment,” he admits.

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This scenario is however likely to change, due to the rise of vaccination in France.

"We will have a supply of vaccines which will increase significantly in the coming weeks and in particular in June," he notes.

However, "these variants are more resistant to vaccines" than the English one, he emphasizes.

Therefore, "with the increase in vaccination, we will give a differential advantage to the Brazilian (variant)."

For Olivier Guérin, it will therefore be necessary "to be extremely vigilant and to master well" possible clusters.