The news was particularly awaited by the thousands of caregivers suspended since September 2021. This recommendation from the High Health Authority thus opens the way to the reintegration of non-vaccinated health professionals, since the Minister of Health François Braun announced that the government “will follow this advice” and that a “decree would be taken”.
Vaccination once morest Covid-19 remains “strongly recommended”
If the authority recommends ending the vaccination obligation in the current epidemic context, it obviously insists on the fact that “vaccination once morest Covid-19 is highly recommended, particularly for professions in regular contact with immunocompromised or vulnerable people” (source 1). Also, “HAS considers that every effort should be made to maintain high vaccination coverage among professionals” and to “strengthen the monitoring of vaccination coverage of all recommended and compulsory vaccinations for students and professionals”.
The suspension of the obligation does not detract from the effectiveness of vaccines: they remain highly recommended for people at risk, but also for hospital professionals. The decision of the HAS is a new step, and we must remain vigilant vis-à-vis the COVID, but also of all the epidemics which arrive and which must be prevented, indicated Arnaud Robinet, president of the Hospital Federation of France , in a press release (source 2).
The National Academy of Medicine, she is not in favor of it. In a press release, she “recommends that annual vaccinations, each fall, once morest the flu and once morest Covid-19 be included in the vaccination obligations of professionals working in the health and medico-social sectors” (source 3). “Far from being an attack on the individual freedom, the vaccination obligations that apply to healthcare professionals are essential preventive measures to avoid nosocomial transmission of infections,” she added.
Hépatite B, DTP…
The HAS recommendations do not only concern vaccination once morest Covid-19, but all “diseases for which a vaccination obligation is currently in force”: diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis and hepatitis B.
- The vaccination DTP (diphtheria, tetanus and poliomyelitis) is only “highly recommended for students and professionalsexcept at Mayotte where it should remain mandatory”.
- Concerning I’Hepatitis B, the HAS recommends that “the obligation of immunization concerning students be kept unchanged”. The same goes for “professionals exposed to a risk of accidental exposure to blood”. She advocates a change: that vaccination be “made compulsory for liberal professionals likely to be exposed to a risk of contamination or to expose the people for whom they are responsible”
