PARIS (Reuters) – France’s leading health advisers’ council recommended on Saturday that the time between people getting the first and second COVID-19 vaccinations be doubled to six weeks out of three to increase the number of vaccinations.
The gap between the first and second injection in France is currently three weeks for people in preferred retirement villages, and four weeks for others such as health workers.
The Haute Autorite de Sante (HAS) said that by eliminating the two required vaccinations of the Pfizer / BioNtech and Moderna vaccines, the treatment of at least 700,000 people would be possible in the first month.
“The increasing number of infections and the worrying arrival of new variants require that the vaccination campaign be accelerated to prevent the epidemic from escalating in the coming weeks,” the HAS said in a statement.
The HAS said that although there is no agreement between different countries on the optimal time course between the two shots, it seemed reasonable to delay the second injection to six weeks, as the first shot is already the 12th or 14th day thereafter. against the coronavirus would provide protection. the injection.
It added that it is essential that people get a second injection.
The HAS is an independent advisory body whose recommendations can inspire government policy but not automatically translate it into action.
The World Health Organization said earlier this month that people should receive two doses of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine within 21 to 28 days.
Several countries are considering ways to expand scarce stocks of COVID-19 vaccines, including by delaying dose intervals or reducing dose sizes.
In Britain, regulators have ruled that shots can be given up to 12 weeks apart, although a group of British doctors have written a medical chief from England saying he should reduce the gap between doses of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine to six weeks.
Pfizer and BioNTech have warned that they have no evidence that their vaccine will still be protective if the second dose is given more than 21 days after the first dose.
(Reported by Geert De Clercq and Caroline Pailliez; Edited by David Holmes)