The Minister of Health Olivier Véran announced Thursday, April 7 the extension of the criteria making eligible for a fourth dose of vaccine against Covid-19. Franceinfo summarizes these changes for you.
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Faced with the epidemic rebound that began in March, with more than 130,000 cases of Covid-19, Wednesday April 6, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran announced the extension of the second booster dose of the vaccine, Thursday April 7. April on RTL.
#Covid19 : “We are going to open the second booster dose for people aged 60 and over”, announces @olivierveran in #RTLMatin with Yves Calvi and @VenturaAlba pic.twitter.com/waRiOf1Qrw
—RTL France (@RTLFrance) April 7, 2022
First of all, what are we talking about? Between “second booster dose”, “fourth dose”… There is enough to tangle the brushes. To recap: of the more than 53 million French people fully vaccinated as of April 7, most have received a first vaccination schedule against Covid-19 in two doses (except for those who have received the Janssen vaccine in a single dose, or those who have contracted Covid-19 and therefore avoided one of the injections). Then, a first booster dose (the “third dose”) was opened to all adults on November 27. The one Olivier Véran is talking about today is therefore the “second booster dose”, sometimes assimilated to a “fourth dose”.
This second booster dose had already been open for some time to certain categories: people who were severely immunocompromised since January 28, and since March 14, those over 80 who had received their first booster dose more than three months earlier. Thursday April 7, it was therefore extended, this time, to French people over 60 who were vaccinated or infected with Covid-19 more than six months ago.
This new booster dose is not mandatory: after the end of the vaccination pass on March 14, only “the volunteers” are concerned, explained Olivier Véran. It is still strongly recommended, because according to the Minister of Health, this second booster dose “reduces the risk of hospitalization, resuscitation and death by 80%” when you are 60 or older. The extension of this second booster dose is also “real good news” for Gilles Pialloux. On the franceinfo set on Thursday April 7, the head of the infectious and tropical diseases department at Tenon hospital pointed out that“we see more and more people hospitalized who have three doses of vaccine against Covid-19”. Hence the interest of receiving a fourth.