Several million inhabitants invited to reach out once more. Already open to people over 80 and residents of nursing homes, the second booster dose of vaccine against Covid-19 (often called “fourth dose”) will now be offered to anyone aged at least 60, announces this Thursday morning on RTL Olivier Véran. It should be administered at least six months after the last injection received, only “if [la personne] wishes,” he said. The aim is to raise the vaccine protection, which decreases over the months after a first booster dose in the oldest inhabitants.
Olivier Véran’s entourage tells us that people who have caught the Covid at least three months after their first reminder will not have to receive a second. Those infected less than three months after this first booster dose will have to wait at least six months to receive the second.
With this decision, the Minister of Health goes further than what the scientific authorities recommend. In a statement made public on Wednesday, the European Medicines Agency pointed to the absence of “clear evidence that vaccine protection against severe forms decreases considerably in adults with a normal immune system, aged 60 to 79, and therefore clear evidence to support the immediate administration of a fourth dose”.
HAS offers from the age of 65, subject to conditions
On March 18, the High Authority for Health recommended a second booster dose for all those over 80, as well as for volunteers aged 65-79 who suffer from the most severe pathologies (trisomy 21, severe disabilities, transplant patients or kidney failure, etc.) or at least three more “classic” comorbidities (obesity, diabetes, etc.). Olivier Véran therefore goes further, since no conditions are set.
Vaccine protection against hospitalization with a single booster dose nevertheless wanes over time from the age of 60, according to the latest data from the Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and statistics (Drees), put online on Friday 1 April. Among 60-79 year olds, many of whom received a first booster at the end of 2021, the effectiveness went from around 85% during the first three months to just over 60% after three months.
However, these data should be taken with great caution, since they do not take into account comorbidities or natural immunity following an infection. According to the British health agency, three and a half months after a first reminder, vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization remained close to 80% in people over 65 years of age.
Still, an additional “booster” seems to have a very significant impact. According to a recent Israeli study (the results of which have not yet been peer reviewed), the risk of dying from Covid-19 was reduced by 78% in people over 60 who received four doses of the vaccine compared to to those who remained at three injections.
Soon a second reminder for all?
With this passage of the age limit to 60, France aligns itself with the choice made last January by Israel. The United States, for their part, offer a fourth dose from the age of 50, Germany from the age of 70, while England begins at the age of 75.
It remains to be seen whether, as with the first reminder last fall, the second will eventually be extended to the entire adult population. The HAS considers that this would be “not relevant” at this stage. The reasons are numerous: “the various available data and the still limited hindsight on the drop in time of the vaccine protection of a first booster, the uncertainties relating to the persistence of the vaccine efficacy of a second booster, and the issue of acceptability by the population of successive and close recall campaigns”. The famous “vaccination fatigue” with which the government must also deal, especially during an election period.