The anti-Covid withdrawal campaign with the new vaccines adapted to Omicron will begin on October 3, once France has received the first doses, the Minister of Health announced on Tuesday.
For the French for whom a new dose is recommended, “we are going towards a vaccination campaign starting on October 3, where we will have the new vaccines available,” François Braun told franceinfo.
For this withdrawal campaign, the High Health Authority (HAS) recommended using one of the three vaccines adapted to the Omicron subvariants (two from Pfizer/BioNTech, one from Moderna), recently approved by the European Medicines Agency, and combining it with the one against the flu, which will begin on October 18.
One of these vaccines, developed by Moderna, is suitable for BA.1. The first bottles ordered must be delivered between September 29 and October 4, according to a recent message sent by the ministry to health professionals, citing only 576,000 doses available at the start.
The new anti-Covid reminder, “is not for the entire population: the High Health Authority has been clear and continues to say vaccinate target populations”, the minister recalled. But, she said, “if you want to get vaccinated, you can get vaccinated.”
The additional dose of vaccine is recommended for people at risk of a severe form of the disease (60 years and older, immunocompromised and those close to them, pregnant women, high-risk children and adolescents) and for health and medico-social professionals. sectors
But it is better not to wait and get vaccinated with the available vaccines if you are at risk and are not up to date with the recommended booster dose (three or six months depending on your age and the date of the last injection or infection), health authorities insist. .
Although contaminations have increased again in France for about three weeks, following the start of the school year, the Minister of Health reiterated his call for “common sense”.
“You have to trust the French. The mask in transport, the barrier gestures, washing your hands is very useful because it protects against the transmission of the flu, the childhood bronchiolitis virus, the Covid,” he said.
When asked about schools, François Braun encouraged them to “ventilate regularly, every hour” and to use CO2 sensors: “means have been put on the table in consultation with local authorities.”
ic/jdy/cel/sp