Paris (AFP)
Vaccinate the "hesitant" and people at risk: the authorities continue the long-distance race against Covid-19 and the very virulent Delta variant to go beyond the threshold of 50% of French people fully vaccinated which should be crossed shortly.
"This morning, half a million appointments are available throughout France to get vaccinated. Do not hesitate, get vaccinated!", Hammered, again, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran in a tweet .
Outbreak of contaminations which regularly exceed 20,000 new daily cases, ten times more than at the end of June, rise in hospitalizations which passed the 7,000 mark on Monday evening (7,079 patients), with 135 people admitted to intensive care in 24 hours, the highest figure since the very beginning of June: the government does not want to ease the pressure.
France should cross in the coming hours the milestone of 50% of people with a complete vaccination schedule (two doses, or a single dose if the person has already had the Covid or if they are vaccinated with a single-dose product) .
Even if this level remains far from the collective immunity threshold estimated at around 90% with the new Delta variant.
Alain Fischer, Chairman of the Vaccine Strategy Orientation Council, recalls that the epidemic context has been upset by this variant, which appeared in April in India and at least twice as contagious as its predecessors.
- Outbreak in tourist areas -
It "induces a very significant increase in the incidence rate (average number of new daily cases per 100,000 inhabitants), which doubles every week" and currently at 179 for the national average, or more than triple the alert threshold (50) .
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The outbreak is particularly marked in tourist areas: the mask is again mandatory outdoors (excluding beaches or parks) on the entire Atlantic coast, from the Vendée to the Spanish border.
Restrictions (bars closed at midnight, masks in "dense spaces") have also been imposed in Haute Corse and in the Alpes Maritimes.
The virulence of the new variant has led to "an increase in the number of hospitalizations of more than 60% in one week and of more than 80% for passages in intensive care", declared on France Inter Alain Fischer, the "Mr. Vaccin" who advises the government.
Faced with this situation, "it is absolutely urgent to be vaccinated".
He justified the government bill providing for compulsory vaccination for caregivers and a general health pass to bars and restaurants (even on the terrace), cultural places and transport.
Faced with Delta, "we have no choice", we need "stronger incentives than those which were in the field of explanation".
Before "the acceleration, the small shock triggered" by the health pass, "we saw the number of people vaccinated in the first dose decrease considerably," he said.
The Doctolib platform estimated Monday at 5.4 million the number of French people who have made an appointment since the announcement of the bill on July 12 by Emmanuel Macron.
- "The hesitant" -
The text which provides for very restrictive measures (for example the suspension of the employment contract for employees of establishments open to the public) was adopted by forceps in Parliament on Sunday evening and now awaits the decision of the Constitutional Council, scheduled for August 5.
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According to a Yougov poll published on Tuesday (among 1,007 people), just over half (51%) of French people are in favor of the health pass.
Alain Fischer insists on the need to focus on those "hesitant" to vaccination.
He cites among the unvaccinated "people in great precariousness or cultural groups who understand less well the" official explanations.
"We must reassure them and explain to them" that if there are a lot of unvaccinated people, "there will be more people hospitalized and that will create a disorder in the hospitals" which could be similar to what Catalonia is experiencing.
Last week, health insurance indicated that 5 million people at risk were not vaccinated.
About 20% of those over 80 who are independent are not yet protected.
© 2021 AFP