“The Covid-19 vaccine does not keep all of its promises in terms of protection against transmission”, estimated on Franceinfo Tuesday, November 23 the epidemiologist Antoine Flahault, according to whom “We must not be satisfied only with the strategy of strengthening vaccines” via the third dose. The director of the Institute of Global Health at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva assured that he “other measures are needed to be able to curb this fifth wave “, including free tests for all.
franceinfo: In your opinion, should the booster dose of the vaccine be extended or even generalized?
Antoine Flahault: Yes, because we see that the vaccine does not keep all of its promises in terms of protection against transmission. It is possible that with the third dose it will improve protection a little bit. Protection against severe forms is well maintained by the vaccine, even with two doses, because it is 80% or 90%. It is because it is not 100% that there are people vaccinated in hospitals, including intensive care. Very clearly, in those over 65, but also in those over 40, we can think that this booster dose may be effective in increasing immunity. However, one should certainly not be satisfied only with the strategy of vaccine reinforcement. We also need other measures to be able to curb this fifth wave.
What measures must be taken in a fairly urgent manner today in France?
We can stick to the roadmap that the regional director of the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed to all countries and all European leaders to see if countries tick all the boxes. For vaccines, we can say that France has vaccinated well because the third dose is on its way. Besides that, the wearing of the mask in an indoor environment could be reinforced. In France, it could be made completely compulsory, even among people who have been vaccinated or have the pass. Everyone should put on the mask indoors whenever possible. The other measure is ventilation, which is surprisingly largely overlooked by prevention policies across Europe. However, ventilation of enclosed spaces that receive the public is imperative, even at one’s own home. This can make it easier to have social interactions, to see your family again in secure indoor conditions. The last measure proposed by the WHO regional director is drug use. We have new medicines which have been approved by the European Medicines Agency and which can be very effective, very useful for people themselves, with direct individual benefit that prevents them from having severe forms when they take very these drugs early in the epidemic, but also to avoid hospital congestion.
Should we expect an increase in the number of deaths linked to Covid-19 in France?
Unfortunately, yes, because we can almost say it’s arithmetic. We know that there is a reduction in the risk of death thanks to vaccination, but it is not 100%. In addition, there are people who are not vaccinated and who are at risk. There is therefore a risk of an increase in deaths, which can be contained compared to previous waves. On the other hand, when we see that Germany, a neighbor of France, today has three times more contamination than in the highest waves it has known so far, we can say that this will increase the number of deaths. What Germany is going through, unfortunately, is also what the Netherlands is going through, which is as vaccinated as the French. This wave is extremely powerful. We see that Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium are suffering a lot. If we do not tick all the boxes, we can expect the countries of southern Europe to experience such a strong wave.
Voices are currently being raised to demand the reinstatement of free testing. Would this change anything?
If we take up the recommendation for the use of drugs proposed by the WHO, yes. To use the drugs, they must be used very early, that is, within the first five days after a positive PCR test. It is therefore necessary to have a PCR as easily as possible. I am therefore very much in favor of restoring free testing for all. We already have free tests for vaccinated people, so for the vast majority. So it won’t change that much. But for those who may not be vaccinated today, they need to be able to test themselves very easily and without hindrance, at least during this epidemic wave.
The government rejected again last week the idea of strengthening teleworking. Do you think the government is wrong?
Teleworking is a first step towards containment measures. I can therefore understand that widespread teleworking is a measure to be taken as a last resort. I prefer to have well ventilated offices where we have CO2 sensors.