• What is the progression of the delta variant in our territory?

Today, this variant represents 10% of positive cases in France according to Bruno Lina, member of the Scientific Council and head of one of the national reference centers in charge of monitoring this variant. This percentage varies according to the departments from 2 to 70% in the Landes.

To detect them, analytical laboratories should normally screen all positive samples. That is to say, look for mutations present in the disturbing variants such as the delta variant. This allows to have a response in maximum 48 hours.

But today according to Public Health France, this was only carried out for 41.8% of the tests carried out from June 13 to 19, for example… And once in 10 there was a risk of a delta variant, to be confirmed by the complete virus sequencing. It takes at least 5 days. So we have a partial “photograph” and a little shifted in time of the presence of this variant of Indian origin on our territory.

• How to strengthen vaccination to slow it down?

The Indian variant is at least 50% more contagious than the English variant… which was already transmitted much more than the initial virus! Scientists have thus proven that it can go from one person to another in a few seconds in a shopping center.

To stop its spread, the implementation of so-called “reactive” vaccination campaigns is recommended by the Haute Autorité de Santé. The idea is to vaccinate as quickly as possible those around a person carrying the delta variant.

The entourage in the broad sense, that is to say the people who work in the same company, the students of the same university, the neighbors of the building …

This may require mobile vaccination “brigades” to truly reach 100% of the identified population. This does not concern those who live with the “zero case”, that is to say because they are too likely to be already contaminated.

• Are we risking a 4th wave?

According to Dominique Le Guludec, president of the High Authority for Health, with our current level of vaccination, if the variant spreads, we will have a new epidemic peak which would again require very strict measures.

The reality of this threat is proven by the situation in the UK, Ireland and Portugal, all of which are experiencing epidemic recovery from the Indian variant.

For Bruno Lina, this could happen in France in the fall. Other experts fear a restart in July because of the first stages of deconfinement.

Everyone agrees on one point: the more of us are to be vaccinated, the less the epidemic will be important. Because not only does the vaccine protect against serious forms, it also slows down the transmission of the virus.