Just when you thought it was safe . . .

[Chappers51]

Mine was the nasal swab type and I think all pharmacies will stock them. I’ve none left now, but I’m sure my neighbour will pop into the pharmacy next week to get me another couple.

[exile]

Speedy recovery @Chappers51

[Hotrodder]

There is no way I'm having a test if it involves poking something far up my nose. I suffer from nosebleeds at the least provocation. It even happens while asleep.

[Blaze]

Hope you feel better soon @Chappers51

[Chappers51]

Thank you everyone for your good wishes.

[Wilbro]

@Chappers51 I
Having just got over mine I hope yours isn't as unpleasant and a swift recovery.

[Bayleaf]

I'm reading news of a "highly-mutated new Covid variant" in the UK news, and how hospital cases are rising. But there doesn't seem to be any mention of it in French news?

I have used it to my advantage to decline a Birthday gathering next weekend (where I wouldn't have known anyone except the birthday girl), as I just don't do social gatherings anymore!

Does anyone have the latest situation here? If it's gaining momentum in the UK, and Germany, it must follow the same course here. A German client who has a holiday home next to me whom I mow for, she's a music teacher and says the schools and kindergartens are riddled with it - teachers, pupils, bus drivers - she's just got over it and warns me to keep my distance from people!

The new evil we live with, on top of everything else.

[exile]

@Bayleaf
All the reports I have seen have failed to mention France as one of the countries where this new variant has been found.

That may be because there is insufficient testing of the variants here to determine that it has arrived. It may be that it has not yet arrived here (in any substantial way). However, the reported levels of infectivity suggest that it will certainly come. So caution is not an over-reaction.

[Bayleaf]

I've found an article that someone kindly posted on a French Forum on FB yesterday:
https://www.francetvinfo.fr/sante/malad ... 65814.html

TRANSLATION
It will start two weeks before the scheduled date. The new vaccination campaign against Covid-19 will begin on October 2 , instead of October 17, announced the Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, Friday September 15. In question: “a current context of more marked circulation of the virus” . Franceinfo returns in four questions on this new autumn campaign.
1 What is the scale of the epidemic currently?
Due to the disappearance of certain censuses and indicators, monitoring of the evolution of Covid-19 is much less precise than it was, particularly at the height of the pandemic. Despite the vagueness, a clear trend is emerging: the number of cases is clearly increasing.
>> Covid-19: why has it become so difficult to know where the epidemic is?
“What is certain is that we are once again seeing patients arriving at the emergency room and at the hospital , ” assures Franceinfo Benjamin Davido , infectious diseases specialist at the Raymond-Poincaré hospital in Garches (Hauts-de-Seine). . “There is a 30% increase in Covid consultations in hospital this week, and 30% of these patients end up in hospital (...) It is still summer, the weather is rather good and this unfortunately portends an autumn and perhaps a difficult winter ,” he anticipates.
2 What vaccines are administered?
According to the Ministry of Health, “vaccines adapted to the majority circulating variant (XBB1.5) are available” . Health insurance writes that, for this new campaign, bivalent messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines “adapted to the Omicron variant are recommended as first line, regardless of the vaccine previously administered” . Vaccination is free, recalls the Ministry of Health .
Why refer to the Omicron variant, which was already making waves at the end of 2021 ? XBB1.5 is a sub-variant of Omicron. BA.2.86, which was first detected in France at the end of August , is a descendant of the BA.2 variant , itself a sub-variant of Omicron. The first scientific data “ suggest that the anticipation of health risks (Covars).
The Comirnaty vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech is recommended for people under 30 years old. For those who do not wish to receive an mRNA vaccine or have contraindications, “it is possible to use VidPrevtyn Beta vaccines from Sanofi and Nuvaxovid from Novavax as a booster ,” specifies health insurance.
3 Who is the target audience strongly encouraged to be vaccinated?
The Ministry of Health points to “the most fragile” . Health insurance first mentions on its site people over 65 and those – from 6 months – “with comorbidities having a higher risk of serious form of the disease (complicated arterial hypertension, heart problems , vascular, hepatic, renal, pulmonary, diabetes, obesity, cancers, transplant recipients, people with Down syndrome or psychiatric disorders or dementia)" . It also refers to immunocompromised people, pregnant women, people who reside in nursing homes and long-term care units.
Health insurance notes that people who live “in the vicinity of or in regular contact with immunocompromised or vulnerable people, including professionals in the health and medico-social sectors” , are also strongly encouraged to be vaccinated.
“Many people must be vaccinated if we want to avoid the probability, even low, of ending up in hospital, and potentially having a serious form,” comments Benjamin Davido. “The objective ,” he insists, “ is a booster vaccination twice a year for those over 80, the 15 to 20 million French people who have comorbidities, but also those over 65.”
However, if you wish, you can benefit from an injection without falling into the categories listed above. A period of six months must have passed since your last injection of an anti-Covid-19 vaccine, reminds the Directorate General of Health (PDF link) .
4 Can we be vaccinated at the same time as for seasonal flu?
Vaccination campaigns against Covid-19 and seasonal flu were to begin at the same time, on October 17. They will ultimately start staggered, but, when they are both launched, it will be entirely possible to receive both injections during the same appointment.
In its recommendations relating to the vaccination strategy against Covid-19, the High Authority for Health (PDF link) "confirms its recommendation to propose the concomitant administration of vaccines against Covid-19 and against seasonal flu, as long as “a person is eligible for both vaccinations, regardless of age” . The body “ recalls that injections must be performed on two different injection sites”. In short, it can be an injection in each arm, a few seconds apart.

[exile]

Without wishing to dish the article, our pharmacy has already started its new round of Covid vaccinations, so the date given has been brought forward another 2-3 weeks.