The chorus is known. After several weeks of clear improvement on the health front, the executive is resuming an alarmist tone. “There are grounds for concern”, acknowledged the government spokesperson, Gabriel Attal, Monday, July 5, on France Inter, warning that a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic from the end of July is ” a possibility “.
“For a little less than a week, the epidemic has regained ground very quickly”, he explained, due to the progression of the Delta variant, presented as “Very contagious” and “Particularly disturbing”. Because if it now represents nearly a third of new contaminations in the country, the number of people with this variant come from India “Double almost every week”, underlined Mr. Attal.
A warning which confirms that of the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, the day before. “For five days, the virus has not declined, it has increased again. (…) The English example shows that a wave is possible from the end of July ”, he wrote on Twitter. On July 2, Mr. Véran had already sounded the alert, evoking “A real threat, which could spoil our holidays and spoil the summer”. Enough to shower the hope of a lasting return to normal life.
The recent increase in the number of infections sparks a cold sweat at the top of the state. Because if the Delta variant is progressing, France remains far from having achieved a form of collective immunity. So far, just over half of the population has received an injection, and only a third is fully vaccinated.
Vaccinate more people
To avoid renewed hospital pressure within a few weeks, the authorities repeat the need to vaccinate more. “We have to go even faster. It’s a race against time that is being played out ”, insisted Mr. Véran, Sunday, recalling that the vaccines “Reduce the risk of severe form, including with the Delta variant”. “The equation is simple: the more people there are vaccinated, the less powerful the wave will be”, summarizes a close friend of Emmanuel Macron.
It remains to convince people who have not yet received any dose to take the plunge. Even if it means constraining certain categories. While the pace of first-time injections is slowing, the rapid progression of the Delta variant has prompted the executive to put the issue of the obligation to vaccinate caregivers back on the table.
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