THE pass vaccine will be lifted on Monday March 14 as planned, as well as the obligation to wear a mask in closed places. The same day, it will also be the end of the health protocol in business.
This Wednesday, March 9, Gabriel Attal who spoke at a press conference following the Council of Ministers, welcomed this good news, while stressing however that “vigilance must remain in order”.
Why this caution on the part of the government spokesperson? Since last Monday, a slight epidemic resumption has been observed in France:
- Tuesday March 8 in the evening, more than 93,000 new cases had been diagnosed in 24 hours and the average new cases over the week was up slightly (+0.3% compared to last week).
- Direct consequence: the positivity rate is starting to rise again (a little) (20.7%, against 18% a few days ago).
- Another indicator: the R (number of people infected by a positive person) increased for the first time on Tuesday after weeks of decline. That said, it is still below 1, which means that the epidemic continues to decline overall.
- Finally, hospital admissions continue to decline but at a slower pace (we were at -25% / week a few days ago against -15% today). Remember that there is always a lag between contamination and hospital admissions (the increase in contamination preceding hospital admissions).
It should be noted that the positivity rate particularly seems to be on the rise again among children in Zone B, i.e. two weeks after the start of the school year.
The BA.2 subvariant is progressing
The reason for this resumption of the epidemic could be the progression of the subvariant by Omicron, called BA.2. According Public Health France (March 3), he was progressing in mid-February (25% of positive tests, compared to 15.4% the previous week).
In Europe, epidemiologist Antoine Flahault (University of Geneva) pointed out on Sunday March 6 on Europe 1 that the Germanophobic countries (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) are experiencing a less sharp decline than expected. “We have a little concern vis-à-vis the BA.2 variant, which would play extra time”. And to continue, that the BA.2 is more different from the BA.1 than it was from the Delta. SO, “The small fear that one can have is that having been infected with BA.1 in January, one could again be infected with BA.2 and have a new wave.”
But our immunity is getting better and better
For the moment, there is nothing to panic about. Indeed, vaccination continues to protect us from severe forms, including BA.2. And in France the vaccination coverage is good: 80% of the total population has received at least one injection (54.2 million people) and 79% of the total population has a complete vaccination schedule (53.3 million people) according to figures communicated by Public Health France on March 8.
Moreover, one could be more and more immunized, in spite of the appearance of new variants. Indeed, theimmunity conferred by successive vaccines and variants would allow us to acquire a increasingly effective immunity (we speak of cell-mediated immunity). “When we encounter another variant, this immunity prevents us from having serious forms, it’s rather positive because whatever new variant emerges, over time we will have more chance of being protected from serious forms”, thus reassured Antoine Flahaut.
Sources:
- COVID-19: epidemiological update of March 3, 2022, Public Health France
- Update on the Covid vaccine campaign in France, DGS press release, March 8.
- covid-tracker
- It happened tomorrow, Europe 1, Sunday March 6.
Read also:
- Covid-19 and effects on the brain: should we be worried?
- Covid-19: cases of depression and anxiety increased by 25%
- Covid positive: what to do? who to notify?