Recently approved by the High Authority for Health, this French vaccine will only be administered as a booster dose to fight against the weak vaccination of Covid-19.
While the figures of vaccination are slowly increasing, the Sanofi vaccine against the serious effects of Covid-19, responding under the name of VidPrevtyn Beta, recently received the approval of the French High Authority for Health to give new impetus to this recall campaign. However, it will still be necessary to wait a few days before receiving the dose from Sanofi because it will only be from December 23 that pharmacies will receive these doses according to the West France.
Recently asked about the vaccination figures, the Minister of Health Francois Braun, still lamented a level that was too low. Asked by the JDD on December 17, he indicated that only 30% of people over 80 had received a booster dose, a “worrying” figure for the minister. In an attempt to further accelerate vaccination, the High Authority for Health has therefore approved the vaccines of Sanofi on French territory and of Novavax, as a vaccine eligible for the recall. These vaccines are “an opportunity to remobilize the French” wrote in a communicated the French health authority.
Public Health France has also indicated that as of December 20, 71,212 new ones have been identified, a drop of 26% in one week, a sign of a stabilization of the ninth wave against an increase of more than 15% in critical care in seven days with 793 admissions as of December 16.
How does Sanofi’s vaccine, VidPrevtyn Beta, work?
This vaccine, developed by the French company Sanofi and the British company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), does not use messenger RNA technology, and is similar to the operating mode of a so-called “classic” vaccine. This vaccine uses so-called “recombinant protein” technology, i.e. the vaccine contains as antigen “a recombinant protein copy of the surface protein of a Beta variant of SARS-CoV-2 and an adjuvant” as mentioned by the website MyVaccines. Clearly, VidPrevtyn Beta contains a version of the Spike protein which causes Covid-19, manufactured in the laboratory and an adjuvant therefore triggering an immune reaction to protect the person in the event of subsequent contamination.
An effective vaccine against the Omicron variant?
The High Authority for Health has noted, based on the results of CoviBoost, that the vaccine showed “a good immune response against BA4/5 variants with this vaccine”, despite still “limited” data. The French health authority declared to be “awaiting additional elements confirming the first data which suggest an efficacy at least equivalent to that of the vaccines currently recommended against the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 variant”. For its part, the European Medicines Agency underlined in a FAQs that a “booster injection with VidPrevtyn Beta restored immunity against different variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in 627 people aged 18 years and older who had previously completed a primary series”.
Who can be injected with this vaccine?
First of all, it should be emphasized that it is a “second-line” vaccine, recommended the High Authority for Health which “maintains its recommendation to preferentially use bivalent mRNA vaccines, regardless of the vaccines used previously”. Then, this vaccine only concerns people over the age of 18 for the moment, as the tests have not been carried out in children, precise the EMA. Another key indicator, VidPrevtyn Beta will only be given once as a booster dose, at least four months after a previous mRNA or adenoviral vector vaccine against COVID-19.
In general, as with all boosters, they are recommended 3 months after the last booster for people over 80 and immunocompromised, and 6 months for all others according to the HAS. If a person has been infected with SARS-CoV-2, this reminder must be done at least 3 months after infection.