The report had been commissioned by the Minister of Higher Education and Research, Sylvie Retailleau, and the Minister of Health, François Braun, who were seeking answers as to the future of this type of vaccine, widely deployed. in the fight once morest Covid-19.
In this document, published this monday 13 februarynineteen specialists (immunologists, infectiologists, epidemiologists, etc.) initially emphasized “the high efficacy of these mRNA vaccines once morest severe forms and deaths due to the SARS-COV2 virus”allowing “to save tens of thousands of deaths in France”.
Furthermore, scientists insist on “the speed of development and production” of these vaccines, “particularly suitable for emergencies”.
However, the Covars analysis highlights “Limits”: “on the one hand in their effectiveness, in connection with a short duration of the immune defenses necessary to counter the multiple waves of variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and on the other hand in their acceptability”. Scientists evoking a “climate of vigilance, even distrust in a minor part of the public, vis-à-vis the pharmaceutical industry or the public health authorities following certain health scandals (Mediator, Levothyrox, Dépakine, blood contaminated, Chlordecone in the West Indies)”.
“Useful once morest other infectious diseases”
However, the specialists do not question their “important place in the arsenal of medical countermeasures that it is necessary to develop in the face of the growing risks of emergence of known or new pathogens” and estimate these vaccines “useful once morest other seasonal or re-emerging or chronic infectious diseases, as well as in other pathologies, such as cancer”.
For the committee, it is even essential for France to “catch up” in this area, and:
- “develop a fabric of research laboratories in the field of mRNA vaccines in order to increase the level of knowledge and skills on this technology by recruiting high-level researchers in this field and by strengthening partnerships between academics, biotechnology companies and industrialists in order to facilitate the taking into account of innovations in the development of vaccines for both humans and animals”;
- “prepare and maintain tension with state support for mRNA vaccine production systems, but also for other vaccine platforms of interest, as part of pandemic preparedness”;
- “facilitate the performance of phase I, II and III clinical trials of these mRNA vaccines in particular, in order to compare them with other vaccine approaches, to accelerate accessibility to innovative vaccines and to disseminate knowledge and information more quickly ‘experience with mRNA vaccines in the community of French healthcare professionals’;
- “coordinate the research and development of mRNA vaccines for humans and animals in order to benefit more quickly from technological advances in one sector or another and to see an overall vision of “One Health” including the human and animal strategies in the fight once morest zoonoses and the preparation for emergence.”
Finally, Covars strongly encourages France to “to improve the social acceptability of mRNA vaccines by informing in a clear, didactic and transparent way of the advantages and possible limits of these vaccines”.
