November 19, 2021. New recommendation from the High Authority for Health in the vaccine strategy against Covid-19, a booster dose of vaccines for those over 40, six months after the last injection, explains Professor Dominique Le Guludec, President of the College of the High Authority for Health.
“We have had recent data, in particular produced by Israeli teams, which show us that, from the age of 40, there is a real benefit to be had, this reminder, both on infections and on severe forms, that is to say hospitalizations, or even deaths.” notice Dominique Le Guludec.
Since the start of the epidemic, the High Authority for Health has played a central role in the management of Covid-19. An important responsibility on the shoulders of President Dominique Le Guludec, who has held the position since December 2017 after an appointment from the Élysée. From one recommendation to another, the doctor, trained cardiologist and professor of biophysics demonstrates pedagogy. A large part of the staff of the independent authority, constantly in demand, is mobilized. This third summer, with covid, but with almost more restrictions, is the opportunity for a welcome break after a very busy year.
Today, what is the most complicated thing to manage for HAS personnel is “tiredness” : “The teams here, from top to bottom, are exhausted because it’s a crisis that lasts a very long time and you know, we’ve worked a lot, we’ve been working a lot because we’re constantly gripped. , we continue to do our normal work.”
“There is no question that cancer patients do not have the possibility of having therapeutic innovations because there is the Covid. Therefore, we must continue to take charge of our mission in all other diseases .”
Pr Dominique Le Guludecat franceinfo
“And on top of that, there are very specific works and we have issued more than 200 opinions on the Covid and it still continues today. And in addition, they are always urgent”, specifies Dominique Le Guludec.
This fatigue, the president feels it herself: “Of course, I need to rest and lower the stress level. It’s the responsibility of a house like HAS. I’m like everyone else, I need to rest too. Now , I think we were there, we did our best to protect the French people from this disaster. It’s still a disaster that happened to all of us. I mean, we had never experienced a pandemic like this since the Spanish flu and millions of victims”, reminds Dominique Le Guludec.
Over the past three years, it has been necessary to prioritize urgently, “The most difficult, I would say, are the extremes, that is to say the beginning and the end. At the beginning, no one was fully prepared for a crisis like this. The High Authority for Health is not not an institution that was created to manage crises. So we had to initially design how we had to work and what our exact role was”, notes Dominique Le Guludec.
To the question of whether this responsibility was sometimes heavy to bear, she answers: “VSIt is the High Authority which has given an opinion which has most often been taken into account. So it is of course a responsibility that weighs. But when you accept a position like the one I accepted, you know that you have important responsibilities and it is a duty to assume them. Here, in this house, we have principles of independence, that is to say that we give independent opinions. This means independence of laboratories, it is independent of politics too”, emphasizes Dominique Le Guludec.
On herself this crisis taught her that finally she “withstood quite a bit” and that this notion of independence, she insists on this, was essential for her, “We understand very well that the ministry, the President of the Republic, the Minister of Health does not always follow our advice. Science is a part of life but there are lots of other considerations to take into account. And operational life, I would say, depends not only on scientific life,” says Dominique Le Guludec.
Eagerly awaited on the subject, the High Authority for Health has issued an opinion in favor of maintaining the vaccination obligation for caregivers. An opinion shared by the Academy of Medicine, the Scientific Council which has now disappeared, and the Minister of Health.