Professor Bruno Megarbane, head of the medical and toxicological resuscitation service at the Lariboisière hospital in Paris (AP-HP), called on Saturday July 2 on franceinfo the frail elderly realized “the second booster dose” against Covid-19 for “essentially prepare for the September-October wave” which will probably take place after the summer holidays, a period when barrier gestures are no longer maintained with as much rigor.
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Still, “almost 6 million people eligible for the second booster dose, that is to say the fourth dose, have still not received it”, he says. France recorded more than 125,000 new cases of Covid-19 on Friday. “The virus circulates mainly among people aged 30 to 50”he pointed out.
franceinfo: In your department, are infected patients increasing?
Bruno Megarbane: Yes, a bit like in general society, the number of infected patients is increasing. However, at the moment we mainly have patients who come for other pathologies and for whom screening on admission to hospital reveals the presence of the virus. This does not mean that the virus is responsible for their illness. On the other hand, indeed, for a certain number of slightly older patients, in particular those over 80 with comorbidities, we cannot exclude that the Covid has despite everything decompensated their underlying disease and that, ultimately, it is because of this infection that patients were admitted to the hospital.
Are infected elderly people who arrive at the hospital vaccinated?
For the moment, the majority of patients are vaccinated. On the other hand, of course, they did not receive their booster dose. Even today, almost six million people eligible for the second booster dose, that is to say the fourth dose, have still not received it. We now have very solid studies to show that in people over 60, a fortiori in people over 80, this second booster dose reduces the risk of symptomatic form and the risk of being hospitalized. .
Would you like the vaccination booster to be compulsory?
For the moment, we obviously stick to the recommendations. The obligation of vaccination had not even been retained outside of caregivers during previous waves. We must stick to the recommendation. This is a very important role that must be played by attending physicians, social workers and the families themselves to encourage the oldest and most fragile people to receive this dose. This is basically to prepare for the September-October wave. Today, most likely, things will end up settling and above all, contamination will take place in holiday areas, where there are young people. Moreover, today, the virus circulates mainly among people between 30 and 50 years old.
Should we make it compulsory to wear a mask?
In the summer period, wearing a mask is obviously a bit complicated. It is necessary to stick to the recommendations and not an obligation. Now we are in a new phase. We have to learn to live with the virus. Everyone knows the risks of developing a more serious form and knows the modes of contamination. Citizen accountability must be used. For fragile people, wearing a mask is personal protection. For others, it is an altruistic gesture to avoid spreading the virus, especially among their somewhat fragile relatives, and above all, to reduce absenteeism. Because today, it is one of the important consequences of this contamination, for example in the hospital. We regularly observe the need to close beds due to the absence of staff infected with Covid.