VACCINES PHARMACY. As of Monday, November 7, 2022, pharmacists are authorized to vaccinate people over the age of sixteen, but only a few vaccines are concerned. Which ones and why?
This is a new mission incumbent on pharmacists since Monday, November 7, 2022: vaccination. Health professionals working in pharmacies can now inject their patients with the eleven compulsory vaccines in France on simple presentation of a prescription, because the prescription of a vaccine is still an act reserved for doctors. This novelty provided for by the national pharmaceutical convention signed in March 2022 and approved by the High Authority of Health during the month of June has one objective: to improve the vaccination coverage of the French in addition to facilitating their journey and access to vaccines. Indirectly, giving pharmacists the possibility of vaccinating patients should make it possible to unclog often overwhelmed medical practices.
Which vaccines can be injected in pharmacies?
Vaccination in pharmacies concerns a total of the eleven compulsory vaccines in France listed in theNational Order of Pharmacists on its site: diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis, whooping cough, human papillomaviruses, invasive pneumococcal infections, hepatitis A and B viruses, meningococci of serogroups A, B, C, Y and W and rage.
Before November 7, pharmacists were only allowed to inject two vaccines, that against seasonal flu and those against Covid-19. A decision taken during the health crisis to facilitate and above all accelerate the vaccination campaign. If for the time being pharmacies can only deliver and inject vaccines, they will be able to prescribe vaccines from January 1, 2023 according to the 2023 Social Security financing bill.
If pharmacists welcome this new mission with pleasure, which recognizes their qualities as health professionals, they must also organize themselves to respond to it because there is a shortage of staff in pharmacies. Vaccination in pharmacies therefore poses a question of labor but also of time. Also to receive a vaccine in a pharmacy, patients must make an appointment with their pharmacy and go there with the prescription that prescribes the vaccine. Note that only people over the age of sixteen can be vaccinated in pharmacies, children must continue to go to the doctor to be vaccinated.
How much does vaccination in pharmacies cost?
Having it vaccinated in a pharmacy costs €7.50 and the purchase of vaccine is covered by Health Insurance under the usual conditions, i.e. up to 65% for compulsory vaccines, the rest can be covered by a complementary health. For the injection, the rule is not yet very clear but it should also be supported up to 70% as is currently the case for the flu vaccine.
The price of the vaccine in pharmacies must increase by two euros and go to €9.50 from January 1, 2023 according to the measures provided for by the 2023 Social Security financing bill.