Can one hope to definitively get rid of Covid-19 in the coming months? In an interview with Le Parisien this May 7, 2021, government “Mister Vaccine” Alain Fischer said “getting rid (of the virus – Editor’s note) is almost unlikely. […] But this is not necessarily disturbing”. Fischer explained: “the most likely hypothesis is not the emergence of a very aggressive variant, even though we cannot exclude it… but rather it can weaken and behave like other coronaviruses, by giving us simple colds”. He also reminded that smallpox is the only virus that has been eradicated “in the history of modern biology”.
Therefore, will a yearly Covid-19 booster shot be necessary? “This is undoubtedly the most likely scenario”, Fischer said. Yet, it is still unknown how long vaccines currently given are effective for. “The first Pfizer and Moderna data show they are still effective after six months”, Fischer said.
During this interview with Le Parisien, the immunology professor also said the goal was “to ditch facemasks by the end of summer”.
Paris: how long is mask-wearing mandatory outdoors for?
As the Covid vaccination campaign keeps on going, when will we be able to remove our masks outdoors? A question Olivier Véran tried to answer to this Tuesday May 4, saying he hopes it will happen ”this summer”. As for Alain Fischer, he considers, it will actually happen by the end of the summer, by September. [Read more]
