“We are finishing with Omicron”. In an interview published Wednesday evening February 16 in the columns of Parisian, Jean-François Delfraissy believes that France is “at the beginning of a new era” regarding Covid-19. The Chairman of the Scientific Council describes a coming period marked by a “controlled circulation of the virus” of Covid-19 and, from time to time, “epidemic peaks” resulting in restrictions.
“Two years later, we are coming out of the stadium of ‘crisis’ to enter a chronic phase. We are going to move slowly, probably in the fall, towards an endemic situation, with controlled circulation of the virus, but with occasional epidemic peaks due to the appearance of new variants. Clearly, we will live for a long time with Sars-Cov-2, but in a different way”he continues.
According to him, “with a high level of vaccination and reminders, living with Covid means (…) having an almost normal life, letting the virus circulate provided that the level of contamination is not too high. And resuming temporary restriction measures during an epidemic resumption”. “This is the model that is beginning to be built”he summarizes.
“Living with the virus may also mean getting out of this notion of obligation, which has been necessary until now. And finally getting citizens to manage their lives themselves according to the level of epidemic. You can’t ask the same thing of an 18-year-old or someone old. It will be up to the citizens to choose [d’enlever le masque, par exemple]to assess the risk”.
However, the President of the Scientific Council warns: “Just because the disease is endemic doesn’t mean it’s not serious! It’s going to take a long time for Sars-Cov-2 to become as mild as other coronaviruses. There will be moments of high viral circulation”he recalls.
He judges that a fourth dose will be in order, but “for the most fragile vaccinated for six months”evoking “probably a new vaccination campaign in October”. “We will not go for a fourth generalized dose”he says again.