Yvanie Caillé, founder of Renaloo, an association of patients with kidney disease, called on the public authorities to “take urgent measures to better ensure the protection of immunocompromised people” while the government lifts Monday, May 16 the obligation to wear a mask in public transport. 300,000 French people are severely immunocompromised. “They were very worried about this deadline”, she explains. The association launched an awareness campaign on February 28 to encourage people to wear masks in closed places. But even more, Yvanie Caillé regrets that only 20,000 immunocompromised people had access to “preventive treatment that allows patients who have not responded to vaccination to have protective antibodies”. Treatments are available, but not being used, she said. “There are people who continue to die”, she is alarmed.
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franceinfo: How do the members of your association experience the lifting of the obligation to wear a mask in transport?
Yvanie Caillé: They were very worried about this deadline which has now been expected for a few days. This morning, the reactions are rather the observations that have been made. The percentage of people who no longer wear the mask in the metro or on the buses, on the trains, it’s a bit like this type of feedback that we have with real gratitude for the people who continue to wear it despite everything. And then sometimes, a certain disappointment when they feel that the proportion of lowered masks seems to them too high to ensure their safety.
“We would have preferred the mask to remain a bit compulsory because the virus is still circulating strongly.”
Yvanie Caillé, founder of Renalooat franceinfo
We know that there are fewer tests, so the official figures do not reflect the actual circulation of the virus. And then, severely immunocompromised patients are always at very high risk of serious forms and they are not or poorly protected by vaccination. So, for them, the risk of being contaminated remains very high.
How are immunocompromised people treated in the face of Covid-19?
France has been a really good student in trying to provide protection to these people in terms of preventive and curative treatments for Covid-19, since we were among the first countries in the world to recommend the use of certain treatments, and then to order the necessary doses. But today, despite the fact that these drugs are available, they are very poorly accessible for immunocompromised patients, that is, they are insufficiently prescribed.
“If I take the example of preventive treatment which allows patients who have not responded to vaccination to have protective antibodies, currently it is estimated that there are around 100,000 patients in France who need them. “
Yvanie Cailleat franceinfo
And only 20,000 of them have been able to access it to date, although it has been available since last December. We are really under-protecting these patients, which of course adds to the concern after the cessation of barrier measures and in particular the wearing of masks.
Some people decide to stay at home and stop using public transport. Do you understand them?
Some of them have had this attitude since the start of the health crisis. They returned to confinement in March 2020 and they have not really come out of it today. Some continue to be extremely careful, to isolate themselves, which obviously has serious consequences after two and a half years of the pandemic. This has sometimes dramatic consequences on their family and social life, on their work, etc. These are complicated situations. And then, others had tried to resume a life as normal as possible with a lot of precautions. But it is true that stopping the wearing of masks puts additional pressure on these people who, for some, will try to give up public transport in the hope that viral circulation will decrease. And for others who have no choice, they will wear an extremely well-fitting FFP2 mask and go on public transport hoping not to be contaminated.
Do you have a call to make?
Two posts. The first concerns all French people. Many of them are not necessarily aware of the situation of immunocompromised people. It is a call to continue to wear the mask in closed places, in transport to protect the most fragile who may be present. And then, the second message is rather in the direction of the public authorities. It concerns access to preventive and curative treatments for immunocompromised people since today, the situation is difficult, treatments are available, but are not used. And so, there are people who continue to die when they could have been protected by these treatments. I believe that there really are measures to be taken urgently to better ensure the protection of immunocompromised people.