The vaccination campaign against Covid-19 began on Tuesday October 15 and for several months, but the vaccine allocated is no longer the same as during the pandemic.
The season of runny noses and viral epidemics has begun, and we should not count on the autumn and then winter climate to strengthen the immune systems. It is therefore, logically, the vaccination season which opens this Tuesday, October 15, 2024. From mid-October and until January 31, 2025, the health authorities are launching the new vaccination campaign against… Covid- 19. The virus that pushed much of the world, including France, into lockdown several times between 2020 and 2021 continues to be a threat every winter. “It is strongly recommended that people at risk of developing serious forms of Covid-19 be vaccinated, in order to be immunized against the SARS-CoV-2 virus” also insists Health Insurance, which recalls that a vaccination campaign has been implemented every fall for four years now.
Who are these people at risk from Covid-19? According to the High Authority for Health, these include, as during the pandemic, people aged over 65, infants aged at least six months and individuals with comorbidities or immunocompromised. Added to these are pregnant women and nursing home residents as well as their entourage. In total, 17 million people are invited to be vaccinated.
If a prevention message is particularly addressed to these categories of people, vaccination against Covid-19 remains open to the entire population. It is also 100% covered and can be carried out by the doctor, a nurse or a pharmacist. Measures taken to encourage the French to protect themselves against the virus.
During the first vaccination campaigns against Covid-19, the health authorities had relied on several vaccines which had more or less good press, but for the 2024 campaign only one product is used: the monovalent RNA message Comirnaty vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech . However, it is not quite the same vaccine as in previous years. “The formulation of this vaccine has been adapted to the JN.1 variant of the virus, which is the majority circulating variant in the territory,” explains Health Insurance. During and since the pandemic, several variants of the virus responsible for Covid-19 have emerged and vaccines are adapting to new mutations to be more effective.
Combined vaccination against Covid-19 and influenza
For several years now, each autumn the vaccination campaign has focused not on one, but on two viruses: Covid-19 and the flu. In both cases, vaccinations are open and recommended for everyone, but they are particularly so for vulnerable people, essentially the same as for Covid-19: people in their sixties, young children, people suffering from comorbidity or with a weakened immune system for one reason or another. “Because [le virus de la grippe] evolves every year, it is essential to protect yourself from it and to be vaccinated every year” underlines Health Insurance.
For people at risk, the flu vaccination is also free: “The vaccine is given free of charge at the pharmacy, upon presentation of the Vitale card and the Health Insurance voucher” specifies the security site social. But in all other cases vaccination is not covered.