The President of the Scientific Council believes that we are emerging from a period of “crisis” to move towards a “chronic phase” of the epidemic. The beginning of a new era”.
We are “at the beginning of a new era“, marked with a “controlled circulation of the virus” of Covid-19 and, from time to time, “epidemic peaks” giving rise to restrictions, estimates the president of the Scientific Council, Jean-François Delfraissy. “We’re finishing off Omicron“, he says in an interview with the Parisian Thursday, February 17, stating: “Sif the good figures continue, considering lifting the vaccination pass in the spring seems possible to me“.
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The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, also mentioned on Wednesday a reduction in the vaccination pass on this date, if the circulation of the virus is “very weak“. For Jean-François Delfraissy, “we are at the beginning of a new era“.
“We will live for a long time with Sars-Cov-2”
“Two years later, we are emerging from the “crisis” stage to enter a chronic phase. We are going to move slowly, probably in the fall, towards an endemic situation, with controlled circulation of the virus, but with occasional epidemic peaks due to the appearance of new variants. Clearly, we will live for a long time with Sars-Cov-2, but in a different way“, he continues.
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According to him, “with a high level of vaccination and reminders, living with Covid means (…) having an almost normal life, letting the virus circulate provided that the level of contamination is not too high. And resume temporary restriction measures during an epidemic recovery“. “This is the pattern that begins to build“, he summarizes.
“Living with the virus may also mean getting out of this notion of obligation, which has been necessary until now. And finally get citizens to manage their lives themselves according to the level of the epidemic. You can’t ask the same thing of an 18-year-old or someone who is old. It will be up to citizens to choose (to remove the mask, for example, editor’s note), to assess the risk“.
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A fourth dose planned for the most fragile
However, the President of the Scientific Council warns: “CIt is not because the disease settles in an endemic way that it is not serious! It will take a long time for Sars-Cov-2 to become as mild as other coronaviruses. There will be times of high viral circulation“, he recalls.
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He judges that a fourth dose will be relevant, but “for the most fragile vaccinated for six months“, referring to”probably a new vaccination campaign in October“. “We will not go for a fourth generalized dose“, he assures.
Finally, when asked about the antiviral Paxlovid, a curative treatment against Covid-19, he indicates that “so far, 1200 patients have been treated” which is “insufficient“.
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