While the French government gave the green light, Thursday, April 7, for a fourth dose of vaccine against Covid-19 for people aged 60 and over, the club of correspondents is interested in the vaccine strategies of other countries. Direction Italy and India.
Italy questions its long-term vaccine strategy
In Italy, the campaign for the 4th dose of the Covid-19 vaccine began this week. But another vaccine strategy is already taking shape for next fall. It is in the fall that the number of infections could increase again, according to the health authorities who are preparing for it. The director of the Medicines Agency wants to move on to the annual reminder phase. We will no longer speak of a third, fourth or fifth dose, the vaccine against Covid-19 would become like the vaccine against the flu.
But who will be vaccinated? Should the whole population be vaccinated once a year or only those over 50 or 60? The decision has not yet been made. The Medicines Agency hopes to have a vaccine adapted to the new variants in addition to the flu vaccine by the end of the summer. And the debate recently rebounded at the time of administering the 4th dose.
⁉️ Chi deve fare la dose aggiuntiva del #vaccine #Covid19 (o #quartadose) ⁉️
Il richiamo, a distanza di almeno 120 giorni dal booster, è previsto per chi ha una marcata compromissione della risposta immunitaria o è stato sottoposto a trapianto
Leggi https://t.co/moKR4ikGb5 pic.twitter.com/MO2SC0OSii— Istituto Superiore di Sanità (@istsupsan) April 12, 2022
Since the start of the week, people over 80 and frail people over 60 can receive their fourth dose. The Ministry of Health advises it based on an Israeli study according to which the 4th dose in the elderly protects four times more. In the over 60s it is three times more. On the other hand, no noticeable effect on young people and healthy people. This is why the question arises of who to vaccinate each year. The health adviser to the Minister of Health, he advocates a vaccine for all.
More broadly, the Italian authorities insist a lot on the interest of vaccination with supporting figures. A report just released indicates that 150,000 deaths have been averted in the country. The higher institute of health, the reference body in Italy, used the same methods as for the flu vaccine in Italy over a period of one year from the end of December 2020 to January 2022. The conclusion is therefore to 150,000 lives saved but also half a million hospitalizations. At the same time, the Higher Institute of Health tells us that the number of deaths due to Covid-19 has been overestimated by 10%: 16,000 people out of 160,000 died with Covid-19, but not from Covid- 19.
India launches new paid campaign
In India, the second most populous country in the world, the government has just launched the vaccination reminder campaign against Covid-19 for the entire adult population, with the aim of avoiding a resumption of the epidemic. Around 800 million people are therefore now eligible to receive this 3rd dose. And unlike previous campaigns, this injection is currently paying off for the majority of the population.
#LargestVaccineDrive #Unite2FightCorona pic.twitter.com/Pz2sxsS698
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) April 15, 2022
It is therefore in private hospitals that these adults can be vaccinated. We went to the hospital in Moolchand, in the south of New Delhi. It’s 2 p.m., it’s 40 degrees in the shade, and a tent has been erected outside, on the hospital campus. In front of this tent, a dozen cars are waiting, engines running. Because here, you get vaccinated from inside your air-conditioned vehicle, a kind of “drive” vaccination. A service that attracts the wealthy population, like this thirty-something businessman: “I don’t have time to get vaccinated, I have too much work.”
“This formula is comfortable and fast. You have to pay but it’s practical.”
An Indian being vaccinated in “drive” at the hospitalat franceinfo
This private hospital charges 680 rupees, or 8 euros per vaccination. The equivalent of a day’s work for an Indian worker. This 3rd dose, called “precautionary dose” in India, is currently only free for those over 60, health and police personnel, who represent only a tiny minority of the Indian population. In any case, a person is only eligible if it has been more than nine months since their last vaccination.
Raman Shabra, 42, hastened to come: “My last injection was 10 months ago, so I’m already behind on my booster. I have to go to the office regularly, so I’m very careful. This booster dose should be mandatory for everyone.” More than a year after the opening of vaccination for all, nearly 83% of the Indian population over the age of 15 has received two doses. The country is registering less than 1,000 daily cases of Covid-19 these days, the lowest rate since the start of the pandemic. But contaminations are starting to increase again in New Delhi.