New epidemic situation update this Thursday, February 25, chaired by the head of government. Twenty departments are threatened with being confined at weekends, as in Nice and Dunkirk. Professor Alain Fischer defended the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
This Thursday, February 25, 2021, Prime Minister Jean Castex presented a new situation update focusing mainly on the territorialization of measures to fight against the Covid-19 epidemic on the basis of what was decided in Nice and Dunkirk, c Ie a confinement of agglomerations for two weekends from February 27.
“We are facing the most serious health crisis in our recent history”, declares Jean Castex straight away before recalling the principles which guide the action of the executive. First of all, the principle of protecting the health of the population, of successfully treating all patients and of protecting the national health system. Then, the requirement of the duty of truth, “condition of confidence” according to him.
“Neighboring confinements did not make it possible to reach zero Covid”
“The health situation in our country has deteriorated”, notes Jean Castex since the new daily contaminations have again reached the number of 30,000. “The virus is progressing in France as almost everywhere in Europe”, he reports, highlighting the appearance of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The so-called “English” variant now represents half of the new contaminations. “It spreads at low noise and is likely to produce a new epidemic outbreak because it is more contagious”, warns Jean Castex.
According to the Prime Minister, the decision not to opt for a new confinement “saved time”. And to point out that children in the United Kingdom and Germany for example, “have not set foot in school for more than two months”.
Jean Castex hears the ways that call for “hard and immediate confinement” of four weeks, but “neighboring confinements have not made it possible to reach zero Covid”. “Containment is thus a lever to which we should resort when we cannot do otherwise, (…) everything must be done to delay it, to give the vaccination the necessary time”, indicates the Prime Minister who is looking for “a difficult balance “.
Twenty departments placed “under surveillance”
Not reconfiguring has a “counterpart” in the form of responsiveness to changes in the epidemic, thus resulting in “actions targeted in certain areas marked by an extremely strong resurgence of the epidemic”. This has been the case in recent days in Moselle, Mayotte, Reunion, in the urban area of Nice, in the agglomeration of Dunkirk. “Confinement at the weekend is a heavy measure”, recalls Jean Castex who hopes that it will allow “to curb the observed trend”. It is “the right method to act quickly and strongly without impacting the territories where the epidemic is receding”.
Other territories are now under surveillance because their incidence rate is high (greater than 250 per 100,000 inhabitants), the proportion of variants is greater than 50%, there is high hospital pressure and the viral circulation is accelerating. Twenty departments are therefore placed under “enhanced surveillance”. They represent a population of 25 million people. None are located in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (see map below).
Consultation with local elected officials will be carried out in order to “consider braking measures similar to those of Dunkirk and Nice”. Appointment is made to assess the various situations during the next week and possibly “take reinforced measures for March 6”. It is therefore clearly a confinement for at least two weekends that awaits these territories if the epidemic situation does not develop favorably.
The Prime Minister subsequently specifying that there could even be “additional measures” to those which were decided in Nice and Dunkirk. At the national level, localized “slackening” measures are excluded.
Stressing that the country is not “in the situation of the end of October”, Jean Castex gives priority to “strong and territorialized” measures but “if we had observed epidemic outbreaks, no doubt that the territorial logic would no longer be suitable ”.
“We are vaccinating the right people”
On the other hand, the Prime Minister sees “signs of hope” in the vaccination campaign, the screening strategy and the imminent arrival of new treatments.
By the end of February, four million doses of vaccines will have been administered to three million people. “We vaccinate a lot and above all we vaccinate the right people, that is to say those who can develop the most serious of the disease,” assures the host of Matignon.
80% of EHPAD residents are now vaccinated and 25% of people over 75 years old. As a result, “the virus circulates less in the elderly than in the general population” and “the average age of people admitted to intensive care is decreasing” to tend towards 55 years. Fewer very old people are sick, which suggests that there will be fewer serious forms.
This February 25, general practitioners and pharmacists take the stage in the vaccination campaign. In early April, 65-74 year olds should in turn be able to be vaccinated. By mid-May, “all” over 50s should have received their first injection. “We depend on the manufacture and delivery of doses ordered by the European Union,” recalls Jean Castex.
In educational establishments, saliva tests are deployed which will allow screening of 300,000 children per week (six times more than today).
The English variant induces “an increase in the number of contaminations”
Speaking in turn, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, indicates that the curfew, teleworking and barrier gestures help “to further reduce the Covid-19”. Nevertheless, “because of its greater contagiousness, we are unable to reduce this diffusion of the variant (+ 40% per week), it induces an increase in the number of contaminations”. And has an impact on the hospital system, particularly in the PACA and Île-de-France regions. Interregional health transfers could resume.
The Minister points out that “there is no systematic correlation between the presence of variants and the circulation of viruses” hence an “active observation” of each territory placed under surveillance.
Reminders about the vaccination campaign
For 75 years and over in EHPAD: 80% of residents are vaccinated, 20% were not because contraindicated or refusing the injection.
For the 75 and + at home: the Minister invites to make an appointment via the toll-free number or by Internet or even directly with a vaccination center; the campaign is continuing and should be completed at the end of March (reminder of the terms and conditions for the Côte-d’Or).
For a list of people with particularly serious diseases: vaccination with a medical prescription regardless of age.
For 50-64 year olds with co-morbidities: contact the doctor to be vaccinated in an office with the AstraZeneca vaccine, this is also possible through occupational medicine.
For the 65-74 year olds: Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccination will be opened by April.
For people with disabilities in collective accommodation: AstraZeneca vaccination.
The minister also points out the hope linked to “very innovative treatment” starting with “an old drug”, Interferon, which could limit the risk of serious forms. But also, monoclonal antibodies: the ANSM has granted a temporary authorization for use to limit the risks of severe forms occurring.
AstraZeneca vaccine is “effective”
Then comes the turn of Professor Alain Fischer, Chairman of the Vaccine Strategy Steering Committee (in other words, “Mr. Vaccine”). They announce “good news” from a study of 500,000 people vaccinated in Israel with doses of AstraZeneca. While the phase III studies showed an efficacy rate of 62%, this study indicates a rate of 76% after the first injection and even 80% after the second injection, twelve weeks later. The professor therefore deplores the “bad press in France” of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Other data from Scotland this time, covering 400,000 people vaccinated, tend to indicate that the protection rate of the AstraZeneca vaccine is equal to Pfizer-BioNTech (with more than 90%). “This vaccine is an effective vaccine, a very good vaccine”, asserts the scientist. While taking the tweezers, the same study would tend to say that the vaccine would be “effective in people over 65”, which would be “excellent news”.
Paracetamol to prevent flu syndrome in the youngest
On the other hand, “it is true that young health professionals presented a kind of flu syndrome” which led to a work stoppage. Professor Alain Fischer points out “a fairly simple way” to prevent this excessive reaction of the immune system by taking paracetamol just before the vaccination and for 48 hours.
Professor Alain Fischer says he is unfavorable to the spacing of the injection of the second dose of vaccines because there is, according to him, a dominant opinion for not spacing the second dose of RNA vaccines to more than four weeks. In Scotland, a study suggests that at six weeks there is a 20% loss in efficacy. “We must take maximum precautions”, insists the scientist.
Before concluding the situation update, Jean Castex recalls the importance of the “spring course to achieve the protection of the most vulnerable” and urges us to “stand together, remain vigilant on an individual level and remain united collectively”.
Jean-Christophe Tardivon
–
