2ND COVID VACCINE REMINDER. The General Directorate of Health is extending access to the 4th dose of vaccine against Covid to all health professionals, employees of the health sector, home helpers, firefighters, whatever their age, their mode of exercise and their health.
[Mise à jour le 26 juillet 2022 à 18h17] The fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine corresponds to one second booster dose. On July 26, 2022, following the advice of the Vaccine Strategy Guidance Council (COSV), the Directorate General for Health (DGSE) announces that the second vaccination booster against Covid-19 is extended :
- to all healthcare professionalsregardless of their age or state of health
- to all of employees in the health and medico-social sectorI, home help working with vulnerable people, medical transport professionalsas well as to firefightersregardless of their age, mode of exercise and state of health.
The fourth dose of vaccine was already open to French people from the age of 60, to all immunocompromisedto people aged 19 to 60 at risk of severe formto pregnant women from the first trimester of pregnancy and to people in theentourage of vulnerable people or immunocompromised. “Only 29.2% of those aged 60-79 and 39.5% of those aged 80 and over as well as 45.4% of EHPAD residents who were eligible for it had received their second booster dose” noted Public Health France in its last epidemiological point. The appointment are open (possibility to take them on Doctolib or santé.fr) and the vaccination can be carried out in a vaccination centre, in a pharmacy, a practice or at home. Who has to do 4 doses today in France? Is she obligatory ? What are the instructions and recommendations ? How long after the third injection ? With which vaccine? Pfizer or Moderna?
Who should do a 4th dose of Covid vaccine?
The injection of a fourth dose of coronavirus vaccine is now open in France to:
- people aged 18 to 60 years old at risk of severe form
- women pregnant from the 1st trimester of pregnancy
- people in those around vulnerable people or immunocompromised
- the elderly 60 years and over who are 6 months or more away from their first booster (or last covid infection)
- people of over 80 years old
- residents in accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people (Ehpad) and in long-term care units (USLD)
- immunocompromised patients
- to all healthcare professionalsregardless of their age or state of health
- to all of employees in the health and medico-social sectorI, home help working with vulnerable people, medical transport professionalsas well as to firefighters
In accordance with the opinion of SVOCseverely immunocompromised people affected by the 4th dose are:
- solid organ transplant recipients,
- recent bone marrow transplant recipients,
- dialysis patients,
- patients with autoimmune diseases undergoing aggressive immunosuppressive treatment such as anti-CD20 or antimetabolites,
- patients with certain types of lymphoma treated with anti-CD20 or BTK inhibitors,
- patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia,
- patients with rare forms of primary immunodeficiency,
- myeloma under treatment
Deadline: when to take your 4th dose of Covid vaccine?
The Haute Autorité de Santé has set the following deadlines for carrying out a second booster vaccine against Covid:
► For 18-79 year olds : from 6 months after the first booster shot.
► For people aged 80 and over, residents of nursing homes and USLDs and immunocompromised people : from 3 months after the last booster;
► If SARS-CoV-2 infection occurred after the last dosean additional booster dose is still recommended, respecting a minimum period of 3 months after infection.
► For health professionals, employees of the health sector, medical transport professionals, firefighters : from 6 months after the first booster, respecting a period of 3 months after infection in the event of infection occurring after the first booster.
Where to get your 4th dose of vaccine?
This second vaccination booster can be carried out either:
- in a vaccination center;
- with a city health professional authorized to prescribe and administer the vaccine;
- in a dispensary, a cabinet;
- home.
What does the HAS recommend for the 4th dose?
On July 13, 2022, the High Authority for Health (HAS) recommended toto broaden administration of an additional booster dose (2nd booster or 4th dose most often) adults under 60 identified as being at risk of a severe form of Covid-19, to pregnant women and to people living in the entourage or in regular contact with immunocompromised people or vulnerable.
Is the 4th dose mandatory?
The fourth dose of coronavirus vaccine not mandatory but highly recommended for the people listed above..
Moderna or Pfizer: which vaccine for the 4th dose?
The booster dose for eligible people is done only with an mRNA vaccine, either Comirnaty® from Pfizer (dosage at 30 µg) or Moderna’s Spikevax® (dosage at 50 µg) regardless of the vaccine(s) previously used according to the COSV. The Pfizer vaccine is the only one given to people under 30. “A full dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine or a half dose of Moderna vaccine are used for this second booster shot” recommends the DGS.
How effective is the 4th dose?
“The 4th dose divides by 4 our risk of hospitalization, so there is a real effect on severe forms and there is no more side effects than after the 3rd dose nor depletion of the immune response when you repeat the injections” said Professor Arnaud Fontanet of the Covid Scientific Council on May 5. “It is known that a second booster vaccination [ou quatrième dose] reduces the risk of hospitalization, resuscitation, and death by 80%“announced Olivier Véran, still Minister of Health, on April 7 on RTL.After a booster shot with the Pfizer vaccine, vaccine efficacy against hospitalizations was 90% and decreased to approximately 85% after 5 to 9 weeks and then 75% after 10 to 14 weeks. After a booster with the Moderna vaccine, the booster efficacy against hospitalization was 90-95% up to 9 weeks after vaccination“ indicated the HAS in its notice of March 17, 2022.
What are the side effects observed after the 4th dose?
As part of the enhanced surveillance of vaccines used against Covid-19, a pharmacovigilance survey has been set up to monitor in real time the safety profile of the vaccines available in France based on declarations made by health professionals, vaccinated persons or those close to them. The results of this evaluation and monitoring are presented to the monitoring committee of theANSM with the French network of CRPVs in order to identify potential signals and consider the measures to be taken. To date, there has been no update on the adverse effects observed after the second booster dose. In May, Professor Arnaud Fontanet of the Covid Scientific Council wanted to be reassuring: “There is no no more side effects than after the 3rd dose nor exhaustion of the immune response when you repeat the injections.”
What recommendations for pregnant women?
Pregnant women are invited to do a second booster shot against Covid, from the 1st trimester of pregnancy, in accordance with the recommendations of the High Authority of Health of July 13, 2022.
Sources:
People eligible for the second booster against Covid-19. 06/22/2022. Gouvernement.fr
Vaccine Strategy Guidance Council Recommendations for the protection of severely immunocompromised people against Covid-19 (Vaccination and primary prophylaxis) – November 19, 2021
Launch of the vaccine booster campaign against Covid-19 for priority populations – DGS – August 27, 2021
Advisory Council for the Vaccine Strategy Opinion of August 19, 2021 – Minimum time between primary vaccination and booster vaccination