Covid-19: Jean-François Delfraissy evokes "the beginning of a new era"

Europe 1 with AFP 9:53 p.m., February 16, 2022

We are "at the beginning of a new era", marked by a "controlled circulation of the virus" of Covid-19 and, from time to time, "epidemic peaks" giving rise to restrictions, estimates the president of the Scientific Council, Jean-Francois Delfraissy.

"We are finishing with Omicron," he said in an interview with Le Parisien to be published on Thursday, specifying: "If the good figures continue, considering lifting the vaccine pass in the spring seems possible to me" .

The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, also spoke on Wednesday of a reduction in the vaccination pass on this date, if the circulation of the virus is "very weak".

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We are entering a chronic phase, believes Delfraissy

For Jean-François Delfraissy, "we are at the beginning of a new era".

"Two years later, we are coming out of the 'crisis' stage to enter a chronic phase. We are going to move slowly, probably in the fall, towards an endemic situation, with a controlled circulation of the virus, but with from time to time time of epidemic peaks due to the appearance of new variants. Clearly, we will live for a long time with Sars-Cov-2, but in a different way", he continues.

According to him, "with a high level of vaccination and reminders, living with Covid is (...) having an almost normal life, letting the virus circulate provided that the level of contamination is not too high. And resume temporary restriction measures during an epidemic recovery.

"This is the model that is starting to build," he sums up.

"It will be up to the citizens to choose (to remove the mask, for example)"

"Living with the virus may also mean getting out of this notion of obligation, which has been necessary until now. And finally getting citizens to manage their lives themselves according to the level of epidemic. We cannot ask the same thing of an 18-year-old or someone old. It will be up to the citizens to choose (to remove the mask, for example, editor's note), to assess the risk" .

The President of the Scientific Council, however, warns: “it is not because the disease is endemic that it is not serious! It will take a long time for Sars-Cov-2 to become as benign as the other coronaviruses. There will be times of strong viral circulation", he recalls.

He judges that a fourth dose will be relevant, but "for the most fragile vaccinated for six months", evoking "probably a new vaccination campaign in October".

“We will not go to a fourth generalized dose”, he assures.

Finally, when asked about the antiviral Paxlovid, a curative treatment against Covid 19, he indicates that "so far, 1,200 patients have been treated" which is "insufficient".