Faced with the resumption of the epidemic, the government has announced the start of a new vaccination campaign against Covid-19. For the time being, only certain categories of the population are affected by this booster dose.
- As of October 2, 37,453 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in France, according to Public Health France.
- Vaccination against Covid-19 can be carried out at the same time as that against influenza from October 18, 2022.
“We have seen for 3 weeks a resumption of the circulation of the virus [ndlr de Covid-19] (…) We are moving towards a booster dose, but not for the entire population. The High Authority for Health has been clear and continues to tell us to vaccinate a target population: fragile people, people over 60.”said François Braun, the Minister of Health, on France News, September 27.
Who can benefit from this booster dose against Covid-19?
This Monday, October 3, a vaccination campaign targeting the Omicron variant began in France. This mutation of Sars-CoV-2 concerns 100% of cases of contamination, according to Public health France. It is considered of concern by the World Health Organization (WHO), and is more contagious than other variants of coronavirus. However, this variant remains less virulent and generally causes only mild symptoms in the event of infection.
In a statement, the High Authority of Health provided an update on the populations concerned by the vaccination booster campaign. We distinguish in particular:
- people over 60;
- adults under 60 with comorbidities;
- pregnant women ;
- immunocompromised patients;
- high-risk children and adolescents;
- health professionals.
A new generation of anti-Covid vaccines
For this vaccine booster campaign, three vaccines are now adapted to the Omicron variant. This is particularly the case of two serums from the Pfizer laboratory which are intended for the BA.1, BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants. The Moderna laboratory has also adapted its vaccine to the BA.1 subvariant.
People over the age of 80, immunocompromised people, residents of nursing homes and USLDs can benefit from a booster vaccination as early as three months after their last injection of a vaccine against Covid-19 or their last infection.
Other eligible populations can receive a booster dose as early as six months after the last injection. “In the event of recent infection with Sars-CoV-2, the booster is recommended as early as 3 months after infection, respecting a minimum period of 6 months after the last injection”recommended the High Authority of Health.
