“It is absolutely necessary to accelerate the third dose for those who are called upon to do so”, pleaded on franceinfo Friday, November 19 Frédéric Valletoux, president of the Hospital Federation of France (FHF) and mayor Agir of Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne). The Haute Autorité de santé recommends a second booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine from the age of 40. Frédéric Valletoux also asked “very quickly extend this booster dose to the general population “.
franceinfo: How do you respond to the concerns of Jean-Michel Constantin, the secretary general of the French Society of Anesthesia and Resuscitation, who speaks of a hospital “on its knees”, “sick” and is worried to see a influx of patients?
Frédéric Valletoux: We see winter coming with some trepidation. The observation of a hospital under very strong tension is shared by all hospital staff. After two years of mobilization against Covid-19 when the hospital was already fragile before the epidemic, we have fewer staff on the front and greater tensions. Hospital workers will face it, but at what cost? There will undoubtedly still be significant deprogramming, which is not without repercussions in terms of public health. We know that, traditionally, regardless of the epidemic, the end of the year between Christmas and New Year’s Day is a very sensitive moment, during which the pressure is strong on hospitals. The French Hospital Federation conducted a survey of a third of hospitals, which enabled us to extrapolate figures around 6% of closed beds. It may not seem like much, but it is a lot because it is twice as much as before the crisis. On the other hand, it is probably not one in five beds as it could be said a few weeks ago. However, we know that, in some territories, hospitals are more affected than others, where the pressure is greater and the shortage of staff more dire. We have a hospital that needs to be taken care of with attention, once all this is over, because the situation is delicate.
The Haute Autorité de Santé recommends a booster dose against Covid-19 for people aged 40 and over, six months after the primary vaccination. Should we take strong political decisions on this subject?
We know that vaccination protects against serious forms. We also know that the people who have severe forms and are now overwhelmingly in intensive care units are people who have not been vaccinated or who, perhaps, have not recalled if they are people. elderly. It is absolutely necessary to accelerate the third dose for those who are called upon to do so. This booster dose must also be extended very quickly to the general population. We must insist on the 15% of French people who have not yet been vaccinated. (…) We were in favor of compulsory vaccination of the population, given the stakes and the risk of seeing this epidemic rebound. Austria is the first country to embark on this path: perhaps it needs to be thought about. Faced with Covid-19, there must be no taboo debate. Compulsory vaccination may be a subject that needs to be raised again in the public debate. The objective is that we do not attend scenes of overwhelmed hospitals, that the population is protected and that we avoid a new confinement or too drastic measures. (…) If the epidemic pressure is too strong, we risk attending scenes that we do not want to see, that we have more or less managed to avoid in France for two years.
Are we really safe from re-containment?
No one can tell. We have seen for two years that forecasting was a difficult art and often full of errors. It is always necessary to imagine that the worst can be envisaged. We have to protect ourselves, not to derogate from barrier gestures, not to forget that the epidemic is there, that the virus is lurking, that it is returning strongly to neighboring countries. (…) These are not distant countries, they are neighboring countries. The hospital is on a razor’s edge and the epidemic is on a razor’s edge. We have to be extremely vigilant.