Is there a risk the Brazilian variant becomes dominant in France in the summer 2021? This is a scenario feared by the Scientific Committee. In their latest report – released on April 18, 2021 – called “Le variant brésilien, P1: anticiper pour l’été” [P1, Brazilian variant: anticipating for the summer], scientists explain the “BR-PA variant (scientific name of the Brazilian variant – Editor’s note) is now widely dominant in South America and held accountable for a major health crisis in Brazil”. They say the Brazilian variant’s transmissibility level is a bit under the UK variant’s, now greatly dominating in France. Yet, experts do not know if the Brazilian variant is “more deadly” at this point.
Furthermore, the Scientific Committee is worried about the spread of the Brazilian variant in South America and explains “the BR-P1 variant might increase in the summer 2021” in France, all the more so mRNA vaccines – such as Pfizer and Moderna – could be “significantly less effective” against variants, and especially the Brazilian mutation, according to searchers from the Boston Massachusetts General Hospital.
For now, the Scientific Committee states “no signal of a particular evolution of the BR-P1 variant has been noticed so far” in France. According to the latest investigations conducted by Flash and the AP-HP/ARNS and shared by BFMTV, this Brazilian variant represents about 0.3% of the latest contaminations reported in France at the end of March 2021. But scientists are worried about the increasing spread of the strain, especially in French Guiana, and recommend to put curfew earlier, from 7 p.m. to 5 p.m., and to set up a lockdown on Sundays in this oversea territory.
And while the French government has decided to implement mandatory quarantine to all travelers from Brazil, Argentina, Chile and South Africa, the body recommends to keep on halting flights from and to Brazil. “Given the major economic stakes related to self-isolation, the issue of a thorough but soft health managing could be tested in the oversea territories with the implementation of an equivalent of the ‘health pass’ supported by improved vaccination to all the population with mRNA vaccines”, the Scientific Committee adds.
Furthermore, scientists recommend anticipating the likely spread of the BR-P1 variant in mainland France. How? By relying on “pre-orders of vaccines aiming at the new variants likely to be available by Fall. […] Any measure curbing the introduction and spread of the BR-P1 variant is advisable by anticipating”, the body insists on in their latest report.
And the Scientific Committee is not the only one to fear the variant from Brazil. “The variant hitting Brazil is likely to infect the whole world”, professor Dimas Covas – head of the Butantan Institute entrusted with developing vaccines in Sao Paolo – says to L’Express.
