It is a “solemn call for a burst of vaccination” that launched, this Friday, December 9, the Minister of Health, François Braun. While Public Health France reports, in its weekly epidemiological update of December 8, a significant increase in cases of Covid-19 contamination, hospitalizations, as well as the number of deaths, the slowdown in vaccination among the population worries the government. In particular, it is the low number of people who have received a second booster dose, i.e. a fourth vaccine injection, which alerts the authorities and caregivers. To date, indicates Public Health France, only 9.7% of 60-79 year olds have received a second booster dose, while for those over 80, the total does not exceed 12.8%. This last panel is however the most exposed to the serious consequences of an infection.
In early December, epidemiologist Catherine Hill explained to The Express that the equation was however not so complicated to solve: “If you are under 80 years old and your last Covid or your last vaccine dates back more than 6 months, will you be revaccinated. And for the 80s and more, the principle is the same with a period of 3 months”. Knowing that 82.5% of people aged 65 and over have received at least one booster dose, i.e. three injections, the question arises as to why so many people who decided on vaccination yesterday are delaying today complete their immune protection. What is more within the public at risk, of which Jean-Marie, 78, must admit “to be a part”, despite good general health. While he had made the appointments for the three previous vaccinations alone, he admits that it is “on the advice of his attending physician” that he is preparing, in a few days, to receive a fourth dose.
As to why, Jean-Marie cites this “false impression that vaccination is becoming less and less necessary”. Also, there is this amazing regularity to follow: “Getting vaccinated every six months against the same disease is not instinctive”, he breathes. Indeed, “immunity against Covid-19 does not last very long, concedes epidemiologist Yves Buisson, due to the rapid mutation of the virus”. Nevertheless, the call from caregivers and the certainty of the effectiveness of vaccines prompted the soon to be octogenarian to complete his vaccination schedule.
“A sudden and quite brutal injunction”
Age, a crucial factor for Isabelle, 65, who very quickly wanted to have her 91-year-old mother vaccinated for a fourth time. But she herself has not yet received this dose. “I don’t really feel like I’m part of the public concerned,” she jokes, well aware of having recently entered the big family of “65 and over”. While taking the government’s speech seriously, Isabelle is a little surprised by the “sudden and quite brutal injunction”, issued by the Minister of Health this Friday. And if she will be vaccinated again, “it will not be before January”, the priorities being elsewhere. “The novelty of the virus caused, in the first months, a certain anxiety, but today, after having caught it, it no longer scares me so much”, she explains.
The fear of infecting vulnerable people is what motivated Nathan, 28, to go through the vaccination box three times. “With the idea, also, of not being deprived of certain activities”. But at the start of winter, he has not yet made an appointment to receive a fourth dose. “For weeks, we heard that the fourth dose was recommended for people who are elderly or likely to have cases of comorbidities. And, overnight, everyone has to rush to make an appointment”. If he encourages any fragile person to be vaccinated, he keeps in mind that “the vaccine does not really prevent the circulation of the virus”, and not feeling in danger, he campaigns so that “the public at risk is made fully vaccinate before others”.
In this sense, the Minister of Health clarified that if vaccination was open to all, from 12 years and two months, the main target remained “the most fragile”. Bringing this vulnerable public to the fourth dose, such is the mission that Myriam, a pharmacist in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, has given herself. “When I see a client whose age or state of health may lead to a serious form of Covid, I immediately offer him an appointment”. This is how René, 76, who came to get dolipranes, will return on Tuesday for his second vaccination reminder.