The health crisis has not said its last word. Since May 16, 2022, the French have returned to a “normal” social life. No more wearing a mask in transport or having to show a valid vaccination pass to go have a drink on the terrace. If epidemiological indicators seemed to indicate that Covid-19 belonged to the past a few weeks ago, this is no longer the case.
From now on, France is facing an “epidemic recovery which is linked to the arrival of new variants of the Omicron family, which are called BA.4 BA.5”, testifies the infectious disease specialist Anne-Claude Crémieux on Franceinfo.
Since the beginning of June, the epidemic figures have turned red:
Faced with this rebound in the epidemic caused by the BA.4 and BA.5 variants, it is necessary to protect the most vulnerable.
The BA.4 and BA.5 variants were discovered in South Africa in January 2022, “then in Portugal. So we know his behavior”, recalls Anne-Claude Crémieux. According to the scientist, they spread better than the BA.2 sub-variant which had caused the epidemic resumption in April and “it escapes the vaccine a little better”.
The first patients who arrive at the hospital in the infectious disease departments are “elderly patients who have received two or three doses”, specifies the infectiologist. To limit hospital tension, it is therefore advisable for anyone eligible for a booster dose to be vaccinated. Indeed, vaccination “remains our main weapon to protect against severe forms,” says Anne-Claude Crémieux.
If the question of a return to wearing a compulsory mask is not on the agenda, the infectious disease specialist advises people over 60 to put it back in very confined environments, such as “very closed rooms with several hundred people”.
In the slideshow below, find the places where the risk of contamination is the highest.*
*According to a study by the Institut Pasteur published in the journal The Lancet Regional Health Europe.
