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CONTAMINATIONS
On Wednesday 18 August, 28,405 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in 24 hours, according to figures from Santé publique France, bringing the total number of confirmed cases since the beginning of the epidemic to 6,533,383.

The positivity rate, which measures the number of positive cases in relation to the number of people tested, stands at 3.4%.

HOSPITALISATIONS
The number of Covid patients in hospital is now 10,336 (including 1,036 new admissions).

Hospitalisations in critical care units, which deal with the most serious cases, also continued to rise, with 2,054 patients, including 299 new admissions in 24 hours.

DEATHS
112 people have died of Covid-19 in hospitals in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths in France to 113,055, including 86,480 in hospital.

VACCINATION
To date, 46,928,614 people have received at least one injection, i.e. 69.6% of the total population, and 40,152,019 people have had a complete vaccination schedule, i.e. 59.6% of the total population.

✏️ Incidence rate

✏️ Covid: vaccine efficacy decreases over time with delta variant

According to a British study, Pfizer and AstraZeneca’s vaccines lose their effectiveness three months after the second dose. This is enough to tip the balance in favour of a third dose, which is already being considered by several countries.

The debate on the third dose may soon be over. According to a British study pre-published on Thursday, the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines would indeed see their effectiveness against the Delta variant decrease after 90 days.

The study, carried out jointly by Oxford University and the British Office for National Statistics (ONS), covers more than three million people vaccinated in the UK.

Efficacy still important

Two weeks after the second dose, Pfizer’s and AstraZeneca’s vaccines appear to be 85% and 68% effective against the Delta variant, but this protection would drop to 75% and 61% respectively after three months, the study found. The loss of efficacy would also be more pronounced in people over the age of 35.

However, the vaccines are still very effective against severe forms of the disease. “When you start at a very high level, you have a long way to go,” study leader Sarah Walker, a professor of medical statistics at Oxford University, told AFP. In any case, the drop in effectiveness raises doubts about the possibility of achieving herd immunity. According to the researchers, the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine could even fall to 68% after four and a half months. Nevertheless, “the higher levels of infection seen in vaccinated people are evidence that unvaccinated people are at even greater risk,” Sarah Walker told Bloomberg.

Further argument for the third dose

This reinforces the case for a booster dose, which has found increasing support in recent months. On Wednesday, the Israeli health insurance agency Maccabi published a study concluding that the third dose of vaccine in people over 60 was 86% effective against the Delta variant.

These results could therefore further tip the balance in its favour, despite opposition from the WHO. Israel was the first to launch a booster campaign at the end of July for people over 60. After authorising it for immunocompromised people, the United States will generalise the third dose in September. As for France, Emmanuel Macron has promised to organise a booster campaign “as early as September” for the elderly and immunocompromised people.

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▫️ TRAVEL NEWS

Travel Page. has been updated with the latest information below:

19/08: New Caledonia‘s borders will remain closed at least until 31 December.
19/08 : Unvaccinated people must now undergo a 10-day quarantine to enter Tunisia, compared to 7 days previously.
19/08 : Croatia and Austria will apply a 9-month limit to the validity of vaccines for entry into their territory.

18/08 : France is now classified as a high risk country by the Netherlands. It is therefore necessary to present a PRC test less than 48 hours old, an antigen test less than 24 hours old, a vaccination certificate or a covid recovery certificate to enter the country.

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