VIDEO – The Minister of Health and Solidarity calls on the French to be more vigilant in their behavior and reassures about the third dose.
“Make aattention, the fifth wave is strong“, Warned Olivier Véran, Minister of Health and Solidarity, interviewed Thursday by” Le Talk “of Figaro at the end of the Big Bang Health devoted to vaccines. While contamination is soaring and some hospitals are reactivating white plans – involving deprogramming and the recall of staff on their leave -, “We must not hide that our hospitals will be put under tension”, said the minister. The epidemic is currently on an upward curve, with an increase in severe cases: projections show that “We are going to have 2,000 hospitalizations by December 5, which is a lot. We could be at 3000 in mid-December “, warned the minister, adding “That beyond 3000, it will be necessary to think of deprogramming”. The Minister’s objective is to act “in proportion to the needs, as the sanitary tension in the hospitals “ in order to avoid massive deprogramming, such as those experienced during the first wave, because it represents a loss of opportunity for the patients.
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To avoid reaching this end, Olivier Véran ensures that “We still have our destiny in our hands”: booster vaccination, barrier gestures, wearing a mask, washing hands, etc. And the Minister to call on the French to be more vigilant in their behavior: “If we avoid being at fifty, without a mask, in a closed room, to have an aperitif, that alone can reduce the circulation of the virus by 10% to 20%”, he assured. Without recommending, like last year, to be six at the table maximum at Christmas. “There is no recommendation at this point for Christmas. The situation has changed compared to last year. Vaccination protects against severe cases. But we still have people who are not vaccinated at all, it is these people who are found nine times more in intensive care than the others ”, hammered the minister, calling each once again to the responsibility. About 6 million eligible people are still not vaccinated.
“We adapt hospital capacities”
Why not increase the number of beds and recruit more? “There are more staff in our hospitals today than before the Covid epidemic, assures Olivier Véran. This does not mean that there are no departures, fatigue, an accumulation of overtime, people who have not taken vacations for more than a year and who take them.“ As for resuscitation beds, “We adapt hospital capacities as the epidemic increases”, once again explained the minister. “We have to be serious: there is no country which has increased its resuscitation beds by 10,000 over the past two years, when it takes twelve years to train a resuscitator..“
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While 52 million French people have received a first dose, or more than 90% of the vaccinated population, France enjoys good coverage. Will there be enough third dose for everyone? “Don’t talk about it in the future. There are enough doses. We have more than 20 million vaccines for 18 million French people to be vaccinated ”, reassured Olivier Véran, indicating that we are on a rhythm of half a million vaccinations per day. “I asked to open 300 additional centers, we have more than 50,000 people who vaccinate per day, pharmacists, physiotherapists, nurses, midwives. Liberal doctors have ordered more than 5 million vaccines, they are fully participating in this vaccination campaign “, concluded the Minister.
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