“I am 65 years old, I was vaccinated at the end of May. When is the next dose against Covid-19 for me?” Asks Sylvie, who came to stock up at a pharmacy on avenue Kléber, in Paris. In this pharmacy, many customers do not really know if they have the right to a new injection, while the Covid-19 epidemic is blazing again and intergenerational gatherings will multiply in the weeks to come with the end of year celebrations.
From how many doses can one be vaccinated? What is the exact scope of priority people? Should volunteers who are not part of this target audience be refused? Since the start of the fall campaign on October 3, the prioritization of vaccination has been the subject of many different interpretations on the part of patients… And health professionals themselves.
Behind his counter, between the Doliprane and the lip balm, Clément counts aloud: “May, June, July… Normally, it’s good for the end of December”. Here is Sylvie fixed. On this Wednesday, December 7, the pharmacist is grounded. But it has not always been so: “at the start, we had the impression that the doses had to be reserved for the over 60s.” He has since corrected his error, which is not necessarily the case for all his colleagues, some continuing to refuse patients, can we read regularly in the press.
Faced with these circumspect pharmacists and a slipping vaccination – despite the “solemn” calls from the executive to lend a shoulder, only 20% of those over 80 have received a fourth dose – a clarification has even imposed on the Minister of Health. “A person who wants to be vaccinated can be vaccinated”, tried to simplify François Braun, on November 20 on LCI, specifying that the refusals of injection were abnormal, except medical contraindications.
“Even professionals sometimes have trouble keeping up”
Since October 3, residents of Ehpad, the immunocompromised, people suffering from comorbidities, pregnant women and those over 60, as well as those who live “in their entourage or in regular contact” with fragile people, are priority. But this last category, and the question of whether or not to refuse to vaccinate the public who is not included in this classification, has been particularly problematic.
Especially since the vaccination campaigns follow one another, each with their specificities, depending on the waves and the vaccines. “The information is constantly changing. Even professionals sometimes have trouble keeping up,” says Arielle, another pharmacist on Avenue Kléber. The day after the Minister’s intervention, on November 21, Arielle received an “umpteenth” reminder of the instructions, sent by the Order to all pharmacists. “But since then, there is no new one,” she insists.
The details repeated many times in recent days by the minister and his cabinet seem to infuse, little by little. “Anyone can be vaccinated 6 months after the last dose, and as long as a Covid-19 has not been contracted in the last 3 months” summarizes Clément. Before adding: “this is how the government should communicate, so that everyone understands.”
Opening vaccination to everyone, with no other criterion than that of the time elapsed after the last injection, is a track defended by certain epidemiologists, while hospitals fear another difficult winter, with the return of the flu and the explosion of bronchiolitis. . “I would have dreamed of a simple one-line message: Anyone who has not received a dose in the past six months deserves to be vaccinated. Regardless of their age or previous Covid history “, said epidemiologist Antoine Flahault to JDD, on December 4th. What, perhaps, to arouse a renewed interest in vaccines?