Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

France’s vaccine volte face

Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool/AFP via Getty Image

France has become the first country in the world to recommend a different vaccine regime for those who have recovered from the virus. The country’s public health authority has recommended that people previously infected with Covid-19 only receive one jab, rather than two. The advice is based on preliminary data, including two studies from the United States, that show the combination of antibodies built up from having the virus, plus one jab, creates immunity that ‘is equal to or even exceeds’ having two vaccines.

It wasn’t long ago that French ministers were publicly criticising the UK’s strategy

It’s too early to definitively say whether France’s strategy will work. For one thing, the government hasn’t signed it off yet. If the advice from French health authorities is followed, it will be the first country to factor in antibodies built up from having the virus as well as the vaccine; but not the first country to experiment — or stray from — the specific doses and timelines that were found to work in the vaccine trials.

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