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in collaboration with
Dr. Yves Dour (pharmacist)
A new agreement has just been signed on March 9 between Medicare and community pharmacists. They will now be able to vaccinate on a regular basis and participate in certain screenings. It should be effective in October 2022.
Like other health professionals, pharmacists have been asked to vaccinate the French population against Covid-19. Before that, they could also vaccinate against the flu the most vulnerable, on presentation of the voucher issued by Medicare. On March 9, 2022, an agreement has just been signed with Health Insurance so that community pharmacists can vaccinate all adults from the age of 16, for almost all vaccines. For Medicare, the signing of this agreement “perpetuates the central role that the community pharmacist has played in the context of the health crisis in terms of vaccination and screening“.
All vaccines except against rabies and meningococcal B
The pharmacist will now be able to:
- Carry out all vaccinations for people over the age of 16, with the exception of vaccines against rabies and against meningococcal B;
- Participate in colorectal cancer screening, by distributing kits and talking about prevention to its patients;
- Support screening and treatment of acute cystitis in women.
When questioned, Yves Dour, community pharmacist in Le Mans and member of Doctissimo’s committee of experts, believes that “pharmacists responded to a need“, through vaccination against influenza first and then against Covid-19.”The health authorities realized that the population was in favor of vaccination at the pharmacist. Only vaccines against rabies, due to the compulsory declaration of the disease and that against meningococcus B, due to the particularity of the meningitis from which it protects, are not authorized to us.“explains the pharmacist.
“In short, these are micro-missions that we are already supposed to do” adds Yves Dour, who nevertheless welcomes the signing of this agreement, which has been the subject of strong support from pharmacists.
Other novelties for 2022
Regarding cystitis, the pharmacist explains that “this is a good thing for women because with medical desertification, some patients have to wait several days before having a doctor’s appointment to be treated“. Moreover, with the same objective, the two parties who signed this agreement have agreed that the pharmacist can renew the treatments for chronic diseases in the “medical deserts” and that the list of duty pharmacies is published on ameli .fr, the Health Insurance website, by the end of 2022.
These new measures are taken to try to compensate for the low medical density of certain areas of the territory.