In Europe and the USA the pandemic has entered a new phase characterised by mass vaccination, the activation of primary care and scientific advances that have given a huge boost to the early diagnosis and treatment of patients with COVID-19. To understand the major change that is taking place, let us compare the data of the pandemic in France and Greece. The comparison becomes more important as by June 2021 Greece was almost following France in its pandemic response steps. Moreover, until May 2021 the vaccination rate was higher in Greece than in France.
The data show that France is now entering a new phase of the pandemic
-84% of the French population aged over 12 years is fully vaccinated. Following demands from local communities, a strong effort has been made to vaccinate popular areas as this is where a large proportion of patients with severe COVID-19
-Primary care has been activated. General practitioners have been trained so that treatments recommended by international guidelines are administered in a timely manner. Also doctors at the local level have become active players in supporting vaccination of the population.
-Tracking is massive and systematic. There are free rapid test kiosks on the pavements of cities and in tourist areas
-The obscurantist personalities have been isolated (e.g. Professor Raoult, an emblematic figure of the anti-vaccinationists, loses his position as director of the Institut hospitalo-universitaire de Marseille)
The positive effect of the general policy to tackle the pandemic in France is clear
Compared to early September:
-The number of new cases decreased by 35%,
-the number of new hospitalised patients in ICUs decreased by 24%
-the number of deaths from COVID-19 decreased by 32%
Currently, the ICUs of Paris hospitals have very few patients with COVID-19, so that patients without COVID-19 are normally treated.
In many parts of the country masks are being removed from schools, while the risk of missing the school year is estimated to be minimal.
The lifting of the pass-sanitaire is discussed.
Unfortunately in Greece we are living the Groundhog Day and we are still in the earlier phase of the pandemic.
-Less than 60% of the population is vaccinated. Vaccination rates among children are low and the vaccination level of residents of the popular neighborhoods of Athens and Thessaloniki as well as rural areas of Northern Greece is lower than 40%.
-The vaccination programme has been practically abandoned as the vaccination rate indicators show either stagnation or decline (depending on the region) and increases are rare.
-Hospitals remain short of medical and nursing staff.
-Community doctors have not yet been activated to provide timely home care to patients at risk of worsening disease
-The education of community physicians in both the early management of patients with COVID-19 and the indications and contraindications for vaccination is lacking.
-No provision has yet been made for the integration of large private hospitals in dealing with the upcoming wave of hospitalizations
-Tracking is without «compass»
The result is entirely expected and predictable
-The occupancy of ICUs in Thessaloniki reaches 85% and COVID-19 patients predominate.
-The number of deaths remains high with an increasing trend
-The risk of school closures is high especially in Northern Greece while the fascists, the obscurantist anti-vaccine deniers of the pandemic demagogue and terrorize teachers and doctors
-Thessaloniki and other cities of Northern Greece are in danger of being put in lockdown and we know that a new lockdown may not be feasible as it is expected to have dramatic consequences on the psychology of citizens and on the economic activity of mainly the small and middle class and the working classes.
The comparison of the evolution of the pandemic in France and Greece and especially the significant divergence between the two countries that we observe today, proves the correctness of the strategy Prevention - Detection - Prevention as proposed by the international guidelines.
–Prevention with mass universal vaccination
–Detection of cases and patients at risk of exacerbation of COVID-19
–Welfare for timely treatment of patients at primary care level and strengthening hospital staff.
–Welfare for chronic patients who, because of the pandemic, have lost the medical attention they need.
–Welfare to integrate into the health system the major technological innovations of telemedicine and personalised care
–Welfare to eliminate social and geographical inequalities in citizens' access to health services
–Welfare for the rapid and targeted training of doctors so that new scientific knowledge is transferred to everyday medical practice and citizens benefit from scientific progress in medicine.
The new phase of the pandemic that Europe is entering highlights the new urgency: the re-establishment of a modern, dynamic, democratic and efficient National Health System which provides free health care to all residents of the country.
It is the duty of the progressive forces to step forward now in the battle for the new National Health System.
(Grigoris Gerotziafas, MD, PhD, Professor of Hematology, Director of the Research Group “Cancer-Hemostasis-Angiogenesis” INSERM U-938, Sorbonne University and Scientific Advisor of the HHG Group).
