Sunday evening, Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market in charge of vaccines, announced that Europe could reach collective immunity by July 14. And on Monday morning, Alain Fischer, the president of the Vaccine Strategy Orientation Council, followed in his footsteps and expects a return to normal life “in summer, autumn”.
- In April, everyone over 65 must be able to get vaccinated and in May, it will be the turn of those over 50.
- The government hopes to vaccinate 30 million French people by mid-June, more than half of the French adult population.
- Between the months of March and June, between 300 and 350 million doses of vaccine will be delivered to Europe.
When will there be a return to the “life before”? “In the summer, fall”, answered this morning Alain Fischer, the president of the Council of orientation of the vaccine strategy, to BFM-TV. An encouraging prospect, the day after the announcements of Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market in charge of vaccines, who estimated that Europe could reach collective immunity on July 14. “Let’s take a symbolic date: July 14 we have the possibility of achieving immunity at the continental level“, he declared at 20 hours of TF1.
Vaccinate 30 million French people by mid-June
The continuation and intensification of vaccination give hope, within a few months, of a return to normal life, symbolized by the end of health restriction measures and the reopening of places of culture, bars or restaurants. “It’s the last straight line because we know that to defeat this pandemic, only one solution: get vaccinated. The vaccines are coming, they will be there”, advanced Thierry Breton. Between the months of March and June, between 300 and 350 million doses of vaccine will, according to him, be delivered to Europe. In detail, 60 million doses will be delivered in March, 100 million in April and 120 million in May.
But there are still several steps to go through before we can find our “before life”. “It takes some time, because for life to return to normal, the circulation of the virus must have frankly decreased and the most vulnerable people must be protected, i.e. 20 million French people. In any case, all those who want it. So it takes some time”, tempered Alain Fischer. The government hopes to vaccinate 30 million French people by mid-June, more than half of the French adult population – out of a total of 53 million. “For fragile people, we should not be far from the goal by the end of May. But to reduce the circulation of the virus, the youngest, less fragile but who disseminate the virus, must do so this summer. So we come to summer, fall for a normal life”, detailed Alain Fischer.
The effects of vaccination already visible in people over 80
To achieve these objectives, the vaccination campaign will go through two main stages. In April, everyone over 65 must be able to get vaccinated and in May, it will be the turn of those over 50. Currently, only those over 75, people aged 50 to 74 with comorbidities, people with high-risk conditions and certain professionals are eligible. In this category of the population, the effects of vaccination are already being felt. “We also observe that for the elderly in a more general way, beyond the age of 80 at least, the number of people hospitalized decreases very frankly. So we are seeing effects, of course we are only at the beginning, but these are tangible effects of vaccination”, continues the president of the Council of orientation of the vaccine strategy.
These figures and estimates are only possible if there is strong adherence to the vaccine, which remains on a voluntary basis. To mitigate this risk, Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, proposed to open the vaccination to “all those” who wish it. “Not really a good ideareplies Alain Fischer. The priority is to save these lives and protect our hospital system as much as possible. (…) You have to make choices and the choice is a priority, and then we will move on to the others.”
Pfizer should compensate for delays in deliveries from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson
The other unknown remains the number of doses that will be delivered when delays have already occurred, in particular with the temporary suspension of serum from AstraZeneca before resuming for the over 55s. In its latest provisional calendar, dated Friday, the Ministry of Health reassessed the deadlines for vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. The government expects for the first more than 4.5 million doses at the end of March, and 7.4 at the end of April when a delivery of 9 and 13 million doses was planned. Janssen, the European subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, will deliver 400,000 doses in April, instead of the three million envisaged before its approval. On the other hand, Pfizer has announced that it is able to deliver more than expected, at a level that almost compensates for the losses of the others on its own. The addition of these doses, taken at European level from the 100 million optional doses planned for the third and fourth quarters, should allow European states to have a total of more than 200 million doses of this vaccine delivered in the second quarter. At the beginning of the summer, one in two vaccinated in France, ie almost 20 million people, could be vaccinated with this product.
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