Covid-19: is the booster dose still useful? Olivier Véran's response

Frédéric Michel, Ugo Pascolo with AFP 3:38 p.m., February 17, 2022

Encouraging signals towards a return to "the life before".

With the decline in epidemic indices, and the start of a lifting of restrictions in stages, statements giving hope for the end of the latter tend to multiply.

The latest is none other than that of Jean-François Delfraissy, president of the scientific council, who believes that we are now "at the beginning of a new era" marked by a "controlled circulation of the virus" of Covid-19.

An improvement in the situation that makes some question the usefulness of the booster dose.  

>> READ ALSO -

 These bar customers who rediscover the pleasure of standing consumption

We are not going to "maintain measures, just to push people to get vaccinated"

"Should we force all French people to wear a mask in all circumstances because probably less than two million have not done their recall? I don't think so", answers them at the microphone of Europe 1 Olivier Veran.

Visiting a hospital in Nice, the Minister of Health continues: “Yesterday, [le 16 February, the day after the deactivation of many vaccine passes for latecomers, editor’s note] we recorded 25% of additional appointments, this which shows that the message has been heard."

For the latter, "we have an excellent level of vaccination in our country", and if Olivier Véran admits that he can be better and that he "wishes it fervently, we are not going to 'maintain measures, just to push the people to get vaccinated'. That's not our mindset."

In addition, the Minister recalled that the lifting of health measures in mid-March concerning the wearing of masks and the vaccination pass depends on "two essential criteria", the number of hospitalizations and the incidence rate of Covid-19.

"The choice of mid-March is not a random choice, it is based on the principle that no hospital is forced to deprogram care because of the Covid, which is not yet the case.

>> READ ALSO -

 The vaccine pass and the wearing of the mask lifted "as soon as we can", assures Gabriel Attal

Mid-March crossroads

The lifting of the measures "implies that the activity has resumed a routine rhythm, and that I estimated it between 1,000 and 2,000 Covid patients in intensive care, it would be useless and excessive for me to give you a figure per unit close."

On the other hand, "the virus must circulate as little as possible. However, the incidence rate almost halves every week, so in four weeks, if it continues on this dynamic, we will be back to a rate extremely low allowing us to lift the last measures without taking the risk of igniting the epidemic,” he added. 

“The last parameter is that we have been operating in 15-day increments for several months to lift measures, this is the time needed to verify that there is no negative impact from the lifting of measures. braking", also observed Olivier Véran.

“Mid-March corresponds to the crossroads of these three parameters: hospitals in normal working order, a virus which circulates but very weakly, and enough hindsight compared to February 28, the date on which we can remove the masks where there is the pass, in order to then be able to remove the mask indoors, and remove the vaccination pass with the possibility of keeping it in certain risky situations”, summed up the minister.