Has the quilting machine jammed? While the resurgence of the epidemic is confirmed, with nearly 50,000 contaminations per day linked to Covid-19, the second vaccine recall campaign is slipping among seniors. Since its launch in early October, 36% of people over 60 have had a complete vaccination course and barely 42% of people over 80.
“In total, only 15% of the eligible population received a booster dose in France”, explains to The Express Yannick Simonin, virologist and research professor at the University of Montpellier. And France is not an isolated case, “it’s the whole of Europe which is struggling to sting its vulnerable population with a vengeance, with only 30% vaccination coverage for booster doses”, according to Yannick Simonin.
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Two years ago, queues would run to the sidewalk to receive a first dose. What changed ? Why such a lack of love for these vaccines that protect us? First element: the weariness of the injection. After several protection campaigns, the French feel less interest in moving to receive a new injection. Moreover, this fed up is also visible at the level of the campaign of protection against the flu, which struggles to attract the targeted people. On top of that, people are proving less aware of the risks associated with Covid-19. “The epidemic recovery exists, but it is less visible with the laboratory strike and the public holidays which prevented the results from being raised”, notes Yannick Simonin. People are therefore less attentive to the risks associated with Covid-19.
By ignoring the vaccination campaign, vulnerable people are depriving themselves of a new weapon against Covid-19. Since the beginning of October, eligible French people can receive a bivalent vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna, particularly targeting Omicron and its subvariants. According to results released in early November, Pfizer’s bivalent vaccine would cause antibody levels four times higher than the vaccine developed in the first months of the pandemic, according to the American company. “There has not been sufficient communication from health authorities to encourage people to make this reminder. Media coverage has also been extremely discreet”, says Yves Buisson, epidemiologist and president of the Covid-19 cell. of the National Academy of Medicine, joined by The Express.
Yet this campaign remains necessary for some people due to a decline in the effectiveness of vaccines several months after receiving them, which causes a decrease in the immunity they confer. In France, vaccination coverage is high, which allows the ninth wave to be less virulent than the previous ones. “The most fragile people benefit from the collective immunity of others, but when there is an epidemic wave, they are the ones who are affected first”, underlines Yves Buisson. As a reminder, the recommended time between two injections is three months for those over 80 and six months for those over 60.
Fragile people more exposed
Another parameter to take into account: the impact that the BQ1.1 sub-variant, of the Omicron lineage, which is growing in Europe and the United States, can have in this ninth wave. Across the country, it represents 32% of positive screening tests according to the latest flash survey from Public Health France, a figure which is increasing. “BQ 1.1 has succeeded in accumulating mutations that allow them to escape the immune response a little better, although it seems less dangerous. (…)”, indicates Yves Buisson. In an article in L’Express, Hervé Fleury, virologist and professor emeritus at the CNRS and the University of Bordeaux, adds that “BQ.1.1 escapes the monoclonal antibodies used for immunocompromised people, which can lead to treatment problems. ”
In other words, this type of variant associated with the loss of part of the immunity exposes the most vulnerable people to the virus more. As of November 22, according to CovidTracker, there were 33,726 positive cases of Covid-19 (on an average of seven days). Among these individuals: 7208 people were between 60 and 79 years old. Among seniors, the incidence rate curve (number of contaminations per 100,000 inhabitants) has been increasing slightly for a few days. For those over 60, it stood at 369 on November 22, against 267 at the beginning of the month. Among those over 80, the trend also seems to be on the rise with an incidence rate that climbs to 406. All ages combined, the incidence rate is at 354, according to CovidTracker. Figures which are still much lower than the data from the beginning of October, although the resurgence of the epidemic is growing day by day.
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Just take a look at hospitalizations as of November 28: 18,782 Covid19 patients are hospitalized, a figure that has been rising again since mid-November (+4% over one week). It should be noted that, according to Santé Publique France, the age group of 65-74 years represents 58.5% of the hospitalization rates after visits to the emergency room for Covid-19. “People in hospital are the most fragile and the oldest,” underlines Yannick Simonin. This increase will continue, as daily admissions of Covid-19 patients to hospital and critical care continue to increase. There are an average of 75 critical care admissions for Covid19 every day, up (+15%) from last week. “The pandemic has not disappeared”, insists Yannick Simonin.
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As of November 25, 36 people over the age of 80 have died of Covid-19 in hospital. Note that this figure has been struggling to drop since the start of the eighth wave at the end of September. For the moment, no significant increase in mortality has been seen among the most vulnerable people. What is to be feared is that people who have not been vaccinated will develop severe forms of Covid-19. Especially since the period coincides with the flu epidemic, as Yves Buisson reminds us: “There will be a simultaneous epidemic which will threaten hospital services with saturation and there is the risk of having a double infection. However, these co-infections worsen the prognosis and there is more mortality. Finally, the arrival of a new variant cannot be ruled out for the moment, yet another good reason to protect yourself.