Live – Covid-19: Pfizer/Biontech vaccine ‘still effective’ against Omicron variant after ‘three doses’

It is forbidden to dance in bars and restaurants in France from Friday morning until January 6 inclusive, the period during which Nightclubs will have to close their doors As part of the new anti-Covid measures decided by the French government, according to a decree published on Wednesday.

Discos “cannot welcome the public until January 6 inclusive” from Friday 6 a.m., according to the decree adding that “this ban applies until the same date to dance activities” in bars and restaurants.

Pfizer Laboratories/BioNTech announces that a version of its vaccine adapted to the Omicron variant is expected to be released “in March.”

The company announced that the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine was “still effective” against the Omicron variant after “three doses”.

The head of the Scientific Council was questioned Tuesday in the Senate about the discrepancy between rich nations that begin booster doses, and those that still have severely poor access to a vaccine today. Thus the World Health Organization alerted on this issue, and called for more vaccines to be sent to the poorest countries.

“When I hear that the third dose should be kept for sending to the countries of the South, this is a scientific heresy,” said Jean-Francois Delfraisy. “I do not share the opinion of the World Health Organization on this at all. It is a political view and not a healthy one at all.”

For him, we must now “unify, if we do not want to lose the beneficial effect of the vaccines that we have released in the North, we need the third dose.”

“We have a significant number, 300,000 or 400,000 people over 80, who will not be vaccinated” in France, the head of the scientific council said on Tuesday in the Senate, while it is a population that is particularly at risk of development. dangerous forms.

“We should continue to ‘go to’, ‘we should try to persuade this elderly population, with the arrival of new variables that’s still an additional argument,'” he stated.

However, he does not support compulsory vaccination. “Are we going to send them the force to vaccinate them? No, let’s stay with humanity.”

Jean-Francois Delfraissy reminded the Senate on Tuesday that the Scientific Council decided in September to conduct a systematic examination in schools, where Covid-19 is spreading among students.

“We may move towards systematic screening at the beginning of the school year in January,” he said, “given the prevalence of cases in these age groups.”

He stressed, however, that the matter is in the hands of the government, which will decide.

The head of the science council explained Tuesday in the Senate that with the vaccines currently in use against Covid-19, “we are pushing back the boundaries of the system, we can clearly see that we have this loss of efficiency over time.”

“We really need new vaccines, second- and third-generation vaccines,” he explained.

“We will only get out of this crisis with vaccines,” Jean-Francois Delfraisy recalled Tuesday in the Senate, stressing the importance of gestures of barrier in the fight against Covid-19.

“Yes, vaccines are very, very useful, but in the event of a wave, and a strong fifth wave as we have seen, barrier gestures are also important,” he asserts.

“Is there any contamination after the third dose? The answer is yes,” Jean-Francois Delfraisy said in the Senate on Tuesday, noting at the same time that the vaccine did not completely prevent infection, but did reduce it forcefully.

“We have good data from Israel, which shows that there is a decrease in transmission in the general population,” he explains, repeating afterwards, “there is a clear decrease in transmission. After the third dose.”

If she calls for vaccinations in children [de 5 à 11 ans] The scientific council wants it not to be mandatory and not to be the subject of a children’s health permit, Jean-François Delfraissy told the Senate on Tuesday. “This would be the best way to scare people away,” a scientist, who nevertheless calls for a “recommendation” for this vaccination.

He noted that the Steering Committee for Immunization issued a “recommendation to vaccinate these children,” but that “pediatricians are at least mixed with this indication.” He said that the Humanitarian Aid Society (HAS) must give its opinion on the matter within ten days.

French scientists are currently waiting to receive toxicity data from the United States, where vaccination of children aged 5-11 years began three weeks ago.

A very strong message. Before the Committee on Social Affairs, the Scientific Council, with the voice of its President Jean-François Delfraissy, called on caregivers to adhere more closely to the third dose

“The Scientific Council strongly recommends that we give ourselves the means so that our caregivers can be vaccinated quickly with the third dose,” he insisted.

At the beginning of this call, note: Only 30% of them have already received the booster vaccination.

“It’s pretty much insufficient. One of our recommendations would be: to start over with a very strong booster vaccination, because they have to protect themselves, protect the patients they treat, protect the families,” he said. Jean Francois Delfraissy.

Will there be a fourth dose of the vaccine against Covid-19? Facing the Senate Social Affairs Committee Wednesday, Scientific Council President Jean-Francois Delfraissy estimated that “it is possible that at some point we will need a fourth dose.”

“For now, this is a summons, but maybe a fourth will be needed, I don’t know. I don’t know how long the summons will last. (…) In this guy’s crisis, we have to say everything we know, put it on the table, so we can share what We know it or we don’t know it. So it is possible that we need a certain moment of the fourth dose, as a reminder, and in what time frame, I do not know yet”, stated Jean-François Delfraissy.

When asked if the French hope for a peaceful Christmas, Emmanuel Macron wanted to reassure on a microphone France Bleu Pays d’Auvergne. “Yes, I think so deeply. Because each time we tried to get a proportionate response,” the head of state ruled on Wednesday, on the sidelines of his trip to Alire.

And it is a result, according to Emmanuel Macron, that is due to the “efforts” made by the French in recent times.

“Because we’ve put in a team effort, especially this summer and this fall, with the passing of health and the acceleration of vaccination, we’re protected,” he said.

Senior scientists from the World Health Organization and the White House told AFP that the Covid-19 vaccines are already effective against Omicron, which does not appear to be more dangerous than Delta, the world’s most prevalent alternative.

“There is no reason to doubt” that current vaccines protect patients with Omicron from severe forms of the COVID-19 virus, Michael Ryan, director of emergencies for the World Health Organization, said in a report Tuesday evening. Rare interview with Agence France-Presse.

“We have very effective vaccines that have been shown to be effective against all variants thus far, in terms of disease severity and hospitalization, and there is no reason to believe that this would not be the case.” With Omicron, discovered in South Africa at the end of November stirring up a wind of panic, Doctor Ryan struck.

But he acknowledged that vaccines may be less effective against Omicron, which has a very large number of mutations. But it is “extremely unlikely” that the variant could completely escape the protection conferred by vaccines.

More than 59,000 new cases of Covid-19 have been registered in the past 24 hours, according to figures from Public Health France published on Tuesday, which also show an increase in hospitalizations.

The health agency stated that 59,019 new cases were specifically confirmed. Over the past seven days (which mitigate the effects of the holidays), the average daily new cases are 44,584, compared to about 30,000 last week, which indicates an acceleration of this wave.

The positivity rate has stabilized at 6.5% for the past seven days.

12,714 patients with Covid-19 are now hospitalized – including 1,665 new hospitalizations in 24 hours – up from just over 10,000 a week ago. The number of patients in critical care is also growing, with 2,351 patients, including 408 admissions within 24 hours, compared to less than 1,800 last Tuesday.

Find the latest information on the Covid-19 pandemic here.