Since the start of the health crisis linked to Covid-19, the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) has been hammering home the same message: as many people as possible must be vaccinated to stop the spread of the virus and avoid the appearance of new variants. . As the epidemic evolved, HAS decided to change its strategy.
As soon as vaccines against Covid-19 became available, we were all encouraged to get vaccinated. While people who were fragile and at risk of suffering from a serious form of the disease were given priority, it was the entire population that was targeted by the successive vaccination campaigns (primary vaccination and various booster doses).
There were several objectives: to protect as many people as possible from serious forms, to limit the spread of the virus and to relieve the services of hospitals tested during the crisis. Since the beginning of 2022, the Omicron variant has been the majority in France. This variant is now well characterized and it has changed the game enormously. Although Omicron had the ability to impose itself against the other variants due to its high contagiousness, it causes severe forms of the disease much less frequently than the previous variants.
From now on, only the most fragile people are really at risk of developing serious forms of the disease. This is why the High Authority for Health (HAS) has decided to adapt its vaccination recommendations according to this new situation. These were published in a communiqué on February 24, 2023.
The booster dose for whom?
A booster dose against Covid-19 in the fall, ideally at the same time as that against the flu, is recommended for people at risk of having a severe form of the disease: those over 65, those with certain comorbidities , pregnant women. It is also recommended for their relatives or professionals who are in regular contact with fragile people. On the other hand, the HAS does not encourage it in other people. Of course, vaccination will remain possible for all those who want it and HAS wants it to continue to be reimbursed for everyone.
A dose in the spring for the very fragile
The HAS has defined another category of people: subjects at very high risk of having a serious form, such as people over 80 or the immunocompromised. Among them, the protection conferred by vaccination decreases more rapidly than in the rest of the population. A booster dose is recommended for them in the spring, provided that it is separated by at least 6 months from the previous dose or from an infection.
The HAS concludes by recalling that vaccination is effective in preventing serious forms and deaths, even if this protection fades over the months (hence the booster doses). Furthermore, it stipulates that this strategy may be modified at any time depending on the evolution of the epidemic situation and the emergence of new variants.