Anti-Covid-19 vaccine: the High Health Authority recommends a reminder for the most fragile in the fall

The most vulnerable people have already been warned. “To anticipate the probable resurgence of a variant”, the High Health Authority (HAS) recommends a new reminder for this public in particular, for next fall.

Two categories of people

In its text, the HAS targets in particular immunocompromised people and their entourage, but also people aged 65 and over or with comorbidities (cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, obesity, chronic respiratory diseases, chronic renal failure, chronic liver diseases, cancer or malignant hemopathy, psychiatric disorders, etc.). That is more than 25 million people in France.

For these people, this new booster would constitute a fifth dose of vaccine, or third booster. An announcement hailed by Dr Gérald Kierzek, emergency doctor and medical director of Doctissimo, who speaks of a “personalized and adapted strategy, for the most fragile, which targets the over 55s and those with comorbidities”. For the doctor,we are returning to a more reasonable, classical medicine”.

Stabilization of the epidemic

The epidemic is going through a fairly quiet period at the moment. Indeed, the number of new infections continues to decline, with 24,231 cases of SARS-CoV-2 contamination on May 24, a drop of 25% compared to the previous week.

But for the HAS, “even if the current data seem to show that the epidemic is stabilizing in France, it is highly likely that the circulation of the virus will periodically re-intensify. This is why, in order to limit the impact of a future wave, particularly on the most vulnerable, it is essential to build a vaccine strategy now, ready to be deployed in the months to come.“.

Three possible scenarios

The World Health Organization continues to carefully scrutinize the evolution of the virus and tries to predict the continuation of the pandemic. For her, three scenarios are possible. For each of them, the HAS has predicted an appropriate vaccination strategy:

• In the optimistic case, where there would be a return to normal with the appearance of less severe variants and maintenance of immunity: the booster campaign would be carried out in immunocompromised patients only;
• In the event of an epidemic resumption, with a sufficient drop in immunity against serious forms and against death: the recall campaign would target populations at risk;
• For the most pessimistic scenario, with a new wave, the emergence of a more virulent variant, a drop in immunity against severe forms and an increase in deaths: the recall campaign will be for everyone.

For the HAS, it is necessary to be ready to anticipate the third scenario and to initiate large-scale vaccination, if necessary.