While France is faced with the challenge of the summer and the spread of the Delta variant, the country is also preparing to hit a milestone in their vaccination campaign. While the French keep on signing up to get their first dose, others will get their booster shot as early as Fall 2021.
The announcement has been made on Monday July 12, 2021 by Emmanuel Macron. During this address, he confirmed the extension of the health pass and compulsory vaccination for some professions, he also stated the first French to be vaccinated will be able to make an appointment for a third dose, starting from September.
This August 3, 2021, invited on LCI, infectious disease specialist Gilles Pialoux advocates for the usefulness of this third dose faced with a fourth wave looking like a “race against time. We are late on vaccination” the doctor warns. He adds: “the third dose is ineluctable. By the way, I note laboratories have increased prices, which is very shocking”.
Gilles Pialoux also stands for the return of facemasks in public places, saying contamination data increase too quickly and the hospital will struggle a lot to face new hospitalization peaks.
So far, only immune-depressed profiles could pretend for a third dose. But this booster shot is to apply first to the French who have been vaccinated in January and February. For the record, Pfizer-BioNTech recommends a third dose of vaccine within six months following the second injection.
Yet, WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemns some sort of cupidity in the preparation of a third dose vaccinal campaign in some countries, while others have not even been able yet to vaccinate caregivers and the most fragile people to the virus.
