Friday, December 9, 2022, the Minister of Health François Braun expressed his concern on the set of BFM TV, as reported by The Independent. If it wasn’t already clear, now it’s official: we are in the midst of the 9th wave of Covid-19. And for good reason, Thursday, December 8 had a total of new cases amounting to 71,597.
The Minister clarified that we are in a situation very similar to the scenarios of the last waves: the appearance and spread of a new sub-variant. This is the sub-variant of Omicron BQ.1.1. Like the previous cases, this sub-variant is very virulent, therefore spreads more easily, but in no way represents more danger than other forms of Covid-19 that we have witnessed.
The Minister of Health also underlined the fact that this subvariant affects both the general population and the most vulnerable to the disease, who should therefore be the focus of protective efforts. He thus called for respect for barrier gestures, but above all for vaccination. To date, only 20% of over 80s and 40% of over 60s are up to date on their vaccination schedule. Towards the end of his speech, François Braun insists and hammers: “Now there will be deaths.”
On this Tuesday, December 13, the minister in question also specified, in a message addressed to the nursing staff, that the 4th booster dose of the vaccine against Covid would now be open to all, as reported by BFM TV. And from the ministry to specify that it was necessary to wait 6 months after the last injection, to which is superimposed a period of 3 months after an infection with the virus.
Find below the 10 departments in which the 9th wave is already in full swing, according to CovidTracker.