The photo, posted on March 20, 2020 on Twitter, seems from another era. Alongside Jean-François Delfraissy, president of the scientific council, the members of this brand new advisory body, responsible for guiding the government in its strategy to fight against Covid, pose under the gilding of the Élysée for one of their first official meetings. Epidemiologists Arnaud Fontanet and Yazdan Yazdanpanah, infectiologist Denis Malvy, resuscitator Lila Bouadma… Who would have thought then that the face and language of these experts – virus reproduction rate, incubation period, contact cases, etc. – would be familiar to most French people today?
Nearly two and a half years later, the “CS” is bowing out. As of July 31, it will be replaced by a “committee for monitoring and anticipating health risks”, which will also take over from the Orientation Council for the vaccine strategy, chaired by Alain Fischer, and will be “probably composed with members of the current scientific council”, said Daniel Benamouzig, Thursday, July 21. Placed under the responsibility of the Ministries of Health and Research, this entity will not be content to analyze the Covid-19 epidemic, but “all significant health risks”.
Lassitude
“Covid has normalized and dissolved in other crises, so it makes sense that the pattern is renewed,” says Michel Dubois, sociologist specializing in science and director of research at the CNRS. In recent months, the members of the board, in particular Jean-François Delfraissy, showed a certain weariness. Especially since their work, initially decisive in the management of the crisis, no longer met with the same echo. “There was a time when we scrutinized the face of Jean-François Delfraissy to find out what was going to fall on us”, remembers Michel Dubois.
From confinement to municipal elections in 2020: what the council recommended, the executive applied. Never seen. “Using scientific advice that bypasses traditional authorities to deal with an emergency situation is something classic. What is less so is the type of recommendations issued and the weight given to them, emphasizes Michel Dubois. An entire company has been shut down on his recommendations. The council members were the first to be surprised. »
And then the tide turned. “Their opinions have gradually faced limited public attention and almost zero political attention”, observes Michel Dubois. At the time of the seventh wave, the French are no longer novices vis-à-vis the Covid. “The council has accompanied us in a better understanding of the virus. But today, the variants, the vaccination, we know all that. We are no longer disinfecting our shopping with bleach! », summarizes Agnès Giannotti, president of the union of general practitioners MG France.
Ambiguities
If this doctor carefully followed each opinion of the experts, she admits having sometimes had trouble finding her way, between the notes of the scientific council, the recommendations of the High Authority for Health, the urgent matters of the DGS and the decisions of the council. health defense… “We ended up not knowing who was saying what or what to do, because the opinions were not always consistent”, explains the general practitioner, for whom the government has often “hidden behind the scientists. However, they only had an advisory role, the final decision was up to politicians”.
An ambiguity from which the scientific council suffered, victim of a paradox according to Michel Dubois. “On the one hand, opinion polls show that the French want political decisions to be based more on the expertise of scientists. On the other hand, as soon as the latter get too close to politics, the French doubt their independence and have less confidence. »
Will the new committee escape this pitfall? For Benjamin Davido, infectious disease specialist at the Raymond-Poincaré hospital in Garches (Hauts-de-Seine), it is urgent that the government get out of the“waiting” and define a course in the management of the next waves. « SHaving how we want to manage this crisis in the long term is a societal question on which scientists can certainly shed light, but not answer instead of politicians. »
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A final opinion on a “not over” pandemic
In his latest opinion, the scientific council insists that “the pandemic is not over”. He advises :
– a second booster dosefor the elderly or frail and caregivers of all ages
– not to vaccinate those under 60 this summer, but maybe ” this autumn “
– to create a science council, which would be a “non-crisis”, multidisciplinary and autonomous council, which would enlighten political decision-makers on general scientific subjects, and not only relating to medicine or health.