While the annual flu vaccination campaign begins this Tuesday, October 17, very few French people have been vaccinated again against the Covid-19 virus.
At the end of last week, barely 1.8% of people aged over 65 had received their injection following the launch of the new campaign which had been brought forward to October 2 due to a sharp increase in the number of cases of Covid-19. A figure well below the expectations of the health authorities, whose strategy to avoid further congestion in intensive care units this winter is essentially based on vaccination.
For comparison, as of October 17, 2022, 74.5% of those aged 18 and over, as well as 82.5% of those aged 65 and over had received their first booster dose, and 31.3% of those aged 60-79 as well as 38.3% of those aged 80 and over had received their second booster dose.
Only 0.5% of nursing home staff vaccinated
But this year, “at the end of week 40, 1.8% of people aged 65 and over had received a dose of vaccine against Covid-19 as part of the fall 2023 campaign (1, 3% of 65-69 year olds, 1.8% of 70-74 year olds, 2.2% of 75-79 year olds and 1.9% of 80 year olds and over)”, details Public Health France in a press release published on 11 last October.
And while unvaccinated caregivers were reinstated last spring, only 0.5% of medical staff working in nursing homes would have taken the step. This is less than private doctors, whose vaccination coverage reaches 1%, according to the first figures from Public Health France.
Possibility of combining vaccination against the flu and against Covid-19 from this Tuesday
However, as the agency points out, vaccination against Covid-19 primarily targets “people aged 65 and over, people at risk of severe disease, immunocompromised people, pregnant women, residents of nursing homes and in USLD (Long-Term Care Unit), as well as people living in the entourage or in regular contact with immunocompromised or vulnerable people, including health professionals.
These categories of the population are eligible for vaccination from six months after their last infection or injection of vaccine against Covid-19. A deadline reduced to three months for immunocompromised people, for whom vaccines adapted to the latest “XBB.1.5” variant are preferentially offered.
From October 17, people targeted by the Covid-19 vaccination campaign will also be able to be vaccinated against the flu, which affects on average nearly 2.5 million people each year in France. Please note that both vaccines can be administered during the same visit.