It is a “probably” that we will consider worrying or reassuring, it depends. The healthcare system will “probably have the capacity” to cope with the fifth wave of Covid-19 which is starting to affect France. So much for the prediction of the President of the Scientific Council, Jean-François Delfraissy, interviewed this Wednesday morning on France Inter. And again, it is on condition that “all the tools” such as vaccination and barrier gestures are used to the maximum.
Jean-François Delfraissy was satisfied, however, that France had been “the good pupil of vaccination with Spain and Italy”, and recalled that it was normal for the effectiveness of the vaccine to decrease after six months. “It’s extraordinary to have had them so quickly. They protect very strongly against serious forms of Covid-19 ”, but less against infection and transmission. Still on France Inter, the President of the Scientific Council stressed this morning that the third dose was effective from 48 hours after injection, with “a much stronger immune response”, ten times greater than the second dose.
20,000 new cases Tuesday
The doctor also estimated that “we will very probably have to go towards a third dose” of vaccine “in the general population”, even if there is no emergency for those under 50 years old. Jean-François Delfraissy added that “if this virus became” endemic “, it should not be excluded” to lead to the regular construction, like the flu, of a vaccine every year “. He then called for better application of the sanitary pass and to put the mask back on as much as possible.
“We have the tools, we should be able to limit the impact of this fifth wave, but it will be difficult with a hospital system which is tired”, finally repeated Jean-François Delfraissy, fearing more than a thousand hospitalizations by day in December.
The fifth wave is already reflected in the indicators and its first signs have been visible since mid-October, according to the president of the Scientific Council: over the last seven days, 2,574 patients have been hospitalized, including 585 admitted to critical care. About 11,000 cases of Covid-19 on average are recorded per day. As of Tuesday, nearly 20,000 new cases were reported in 24 hours. “I remain cautiously optimistic”, tempered the President of the Scientific Council, noting also that one had “not sufficiently understood, including in the medical world, (to which point) the Delta variant is extremely transmissible ”.