A new vaccination campaign will begin in mid-April for the oldest and most vulnerable

The objective is always there “Protect the most fragile most likely to develop severe forms”. A new vaccination campaign against Covid-19 will start in France from mid-April, the Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday 27 February. “For people aged 80 and over, immunocompromised people, regardless of age, and nursing home residents, new vaccinations will be given in the spring in accordance with the opinion of a higher authority of health”The Director General of Health, Gregory Emery made the announcement during a press conference.

The High Authority for Health (HAS), requested by the ministry, recently decided in its favour “A Vaccination Campaign (April 15 to June 16) Against Covid-19 for people aged 80 and over, as well as residents of nursing homes and long-term care units and immunocompromised people.. Anyone else wanting a booster, however, will be able to claim it for free, provided they respect the three-month period since their last injection or Covid-19 infection.

A poorly followed campaign

Vaccines for the spring campaign will be first-line from Pfizer/Biontech targeting the Omicron XBB.1.5 variant with messenger RNA or second-line from Novavax with a recombinant protein. The HAS also recommended planning an extension till July 15. “If the epidemic situation justifies it”. She also advised not to exclude the vaccination campaign “earlier or older” If necessary. According to data from Public Health France, a third of French people aged 65 and over have received a booster dose against Covid-19 since the start of the campaign. Those aged 80 and over were the most vaccinated (36.8%), where rates ranged between 21.6% and 35.9% for other seniors.