In the midst of the eighth wave of Covid-19, the fall reminder campaign against the epidemic begins this Monday, October 3. The latter is marked by the arrival of the new Pfizer and Moderna vaccines adapted to the new Omicron variant, recently approved by the European Medicines Agency.
► Who is concerned?
The additional dose of vaccine is not mandatory. It is recommended for people over 60, nursing home residents, people at risk of a severe form of the disease (immunocompromised and those around them, pregnant women) and professionals in the health and medico-social sectors. This concerns a total of more than 17 million people.
People who do not fall into these categories but wish to obtain a callback can still do so if they wish. “The High Authority for Health continues to tell us to vaccinate a target population, fragile people, those over 60, but not the entire population. (…). Of course, if you want to get vaccinated, you can get vaccinated,” declared on September 27 the Minister of Health François Braun at the microphone of France Info.
► Why new vaccines?
In its recommendations, the High Authority for Health favors the administration of new so-called “bivalent” vaccines. These allow both to fight the original source of Sars-CoV-2 but also the new Omicron variant.
A total of three vaccines are available to healthcare professionals. A Moderna vaccine protecting against the original strain and the BA.1 sublineage of Omicron, a Pfizer vaccine with the same properties, and a second Pfizer vaccine protecting against the original strain and the BA.4 and BA.5 sublineage of Omicron, become dominant. The latter will be available from October 6th.
► What are the conditions for receiving them?
The administration of these “bivalent” vaccines only works for booster doses and not in primary vaccination. It must respect the minimum recommended time between two vaccinations, i.e. three months for people aged 80 and over, for residents of nursing homes and for immunocompromised people and six months for others.
In the event of recent infection, a period of three months is to be expected between the infection and the booster dose for the first categories and six months for the second. The booster dose can be received in vaccination centers that are still open, in pharmacies or with your attending physician.