France has banned online sales of nicotine replacements and limited sales in pharmacies after a study found that smokers were less likely to contract COVID-19.
The decree, issued by the French Ministry of Health, allows pharmacies to sell a maximum of one month’s worth of nicotine products treating tobacco addiction, such as patches, chewing gum or lozenges.
According to the government, the step was taken to “prevent the health risks from excessive consumption or misuse linked to media coverage of the possible protective effect of nicotine against COVID-19,” and to guarantee the “continuous and appropriate supply to people requiring medical support to stop smoking.”
It came after a study by the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris suggested that “daily smokers have a very much lower probability of developing symptomatic or severe SARS-CoV-2 infection as compared to the general population.”
After looking at an inpatient group composed of 343 patients, and an outpatient group of 139 patients, researchers found that “compared to the French general population, the Covid-19 population exhibited a significantly weaker current daily smoker rate by 80.3% for outpatients and by 75.4% for inpatients.”
The study “confirms that active smokers are protected against the SARS-Cov-2 infection,” the related press release read, noting that “the reasons for this protection are not established, but nicotine could be a candidate.”
Yet, the researchers warned that smoking can aggravate symptoms for those who do contract the virus. “Smoking has severe pathological consequences and remains a serious danger for health,” they added.
The hospital now seeks approval to carry out further clinical trials, including the use of nicotine patches to health workers and COVID-19 patients to test if it protects them from contracting the illness.
France, that has so far recorded 162,100 coronavirus cases and 22,856 fatalities, is set to begin loosening its lockdown measures on May 11.
