Afsané Sabouhi with Laura Laplaud 2:10 p.m., November 17, 2021

The shadow of the fifth wave is now more than present in France.

Nearly 20,000 new contaminations were identified in 24 hours.

On Europe 1, Enrique Casalino, infectious disease specialist and medical director of the Bichat hospital, returned to the need to be vaccinated and to obtain a booster dose for those concerned.

As the holidays approach, he calls for caution.

INTERVIEW

This peak had not been reached since August 25: nearly 20,000 new Covid-19 contaminations were identified on Tuesday in the last 24 hours.

According to official figures, the incidence rate has risen above 100 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

A sign that nationally, the virus has not said its last word.

Invited on Wednesday from Europe 1, Enrique Casalino, infectious disease specialist and medical director of Bichat hospital, calls for vaccination and to respect barrier gestures.

Indicators in the red

According to data published by Public Health France, 19,778 new cases of Covid were confirmed within 24 hours.

A situation that could perhaps soon strain the hospital system again.

"I'm not going to tell you that it's a deluge but we feel the pressure a little more. We are far from the situations we experienced in the first waves thanks to the large percentage of our population which is properly vaccinated", explained Enrique Casalino, infectious disease specialist and medical director of Bichat hospital.

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According to Professor Alain Fischer, immunologist, in charge of the coordination of the vaccine strategy and invited this Wednesday at the microphone of Sonia Mabrouk, without the vaccination "there would be tens of thousands of additional deaths".

"If you are not vaccinated, the risk of being hospitalized and going to intensive care is 12 times greater than that of vaccinated people," he said, based on a public health study France. 

An opinion widely shared by Enrique Casalino at the microphone of Romain Desarbres: "I spent the morning telling each of my patients: 'We must do the third dose'".

"Our goal is to protect the unvaccinated, to convince them."

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Specialists insist on the recall for all over 65, for people weakened by another disease and for caregivers.

If the 50-65 year olds will also be affected by the booster dose from the month of December, there is no question for the moment of injecting it into the rest of the population even if this will certainly happen.

"Everything in its time," said Alain Fischer.

As the holiday season approaches, hugs and convivial meals, the feeling of déjà vu is omnipresent.

Should the mask be worn around the family table?

The infectious disease specialist Enrique Casalino wants to be reassuring: "We are going to spend very beautiful holidays with family, with friends, but beautiful holidays are responsible holidays", he stressed.

"It will be necessary to respect the distances, to respect the barrier gestures, it is essential to continue to do the tests."