The Minister of Health will follow the opinion of the High Authority for Health, which recommended, Thursday, March 30, to end the obligation to vaccinate against Covid-19 for health professionals.
[Mis à jour le 30 mars 2023 à 18h44] After several months of waiting, the Minister of Health, François Braun, indicated on Thursday March 30 that he was going to “follow the advice” of the High Authority for Health (HAS) which recommends lifting the vaccination obligation. against the Covid-19 of caregivers. The minister promised to “consult the hospital federations and the orders of the health professions to define the methods of implementation”, reports BFM-TV. Earlier on Thursday, HAS had shared its recommendations for vaccinating healthcare professionals in a Press release. The body thus recommended lifting the vaccination obligation against Covid-19, while stressing that this vaccination remains “strongly recommended”. The press release specifies that: “The lifting of a vaccination obligation for professionals does not call into question the interest of this vaccination, whether in the professional environment or in the general population.”
The High Authority for Health stresses, however, that “vaccination does not replace other infection prevention measures for professionals and people with whom they are in contact” and that these recommendations may change according to the evolution of the health context. For the time being, the HAS considers that the Covid is circulating at a low level and that the vaccination rates for healthcare personnel are satisfactory. Thus, more than 86% of nursing staff did a first booster dose in nursing homes, 89% of private doctors also did it.
The Covid-19 vaccination obligation for caregivers came into force in September 2021. In November 2022, the French Hospital Federation estimated that 4,000 people, including 500 nurses, had been suspended for refusing to be vaccinated. The question of the reinstatement of these health professionals has not been explicitly raised for the moment, but it now seems natural that it should be authorized.