Omicron Threat: France Recommends Reduced Gap Of 3 Months, Inclusion Of Teenagers For COVID Boosters

Covid Vaccine Booster Dose: The French health authority HAS, which advises the government in the fight against Coronavirus, cited recent studies as the reason behind the cut to three months.

Representative Photo: Getty Images

New Delhi: France on Friday recommended that adults receive a COVID-19 booster vaccination three months after their initial jabs, news agency AFP reported.

The recommendation reduces the current guideline of five months to better fight the Omicron variant.

As per AFP, the French health authority HAS, which advises the government in the fight against Coronavirus, published the recommendation. It has advised that the booster rollout be expanded to include teenagers who are considered to be at risk.

The HAS cited recent studies as the reason behind the cut to three months which showed that vaccines are 80 percent effective for one-to-two months against the non-serious symptomatic forms of the Omicron variant, but lose their effectiveness more quickly than with the previous variants.

The effectiveness falls to just 34 per cent four months after vaccination with the Pfizer vaccine but the efficacy rose to 75 per cent two weeks after a booster dose, the health authority mentioned, as reported by AFP.

France Stresses On Vaccination Amid Soaring COVID Cases

Earlier this week, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said that Omicron infections are spreading fast and that the Coronavirus variant will become the dominant infection in the last days of 2021, the Associated Press reported.

Speaking to BFMTV, he said the government’s primary effort to stop the COVID spread is a robust vaccination campaign, which now includes vaccination of children aged 5-11
Meanwhile, the government has ruled out additional restrictions on public life.

It’s time to start vaccinating children, Olivier Veran told the morning news programme as 350 vaccination centres opened around the country to start administering shots to young children from Wednesday.

As per the norms, children require the consent of one parent to be vaccinated, and one parent has to be present when they get a shot, reported AP.

According to government figures last updated December 6, more than a thousand in every 100,000 children aged 6-10 are infected with Coronavirus.

The health minister had informed that 145 children were hospitalised in France for severe illness due to COVID-19 and 27 children are receiving medical treatment in intensive care units. He did not reveal the ages of the children.

France also reported 16,000 people as hospitalised with COVID-19 as 60 per cent of the country’s ICU beds are occupied by Coronavirus patients.

In view of soaring infections, the French government is also trying to push through a law requiring vaccination to enter any restaurant and many other public places.

According to the AP report, Health minister Olivier Veran revealed that authorities are considering enforcing identity card checks along with the vaccine passes seeing a large number of forged health passes over 100,000, citing media reports discovered over the past weeks.

The French government looks to have a law passed by January 15 requiring vaccination to enter restaurants and many public venues.

Currently, a health pass is required to enter all such spaces in France, but people can get the pass with either a vaccination certificate, a negative virus test or proof of recent recovery from COVID-19.

Ahead of the holiday season, France shut down nightclubs and banned New Year’s Eve fireworks and other mass end-of-year celebrations, including concerts. It

It’s an evening sacrificed for a good cause, the health minister had said.

(With Inputs From Agencies)