Few information, data classified secret-defense: vaccination against monkeypox, or monkeypox, is a dilemma that should not be. Martial Le Toullec, treasurer of the AIDES Bretagne association, confides his concerns about a situation “which lacks transparency”.
“Two months have passed without the state caring about it,” he protests. The first case, confirmed on May 19, 2022, initially appears to be spreading slowly. As of June 21, there were 277 infected people. It is considered that no vaccination campaign is necessary. However, on July 19, 1,567 people were identified, “with 10 cases in Brittany”, specifies the activist.
The rapid spread is forcing authorities to change their tune. Vaccination has been extended since July 8 to sex workers, men who have sex with men, and trans people who are not in a sexually exclusive relationship. In Brittany, “the ARS has just communicated the CeGGIDs where you can get vaccinated”, he explains. You have to make an appointment in one of the 5 centres, including Rennes. As of July 11, the situation remained a great blur for those concerned.
I had the ARS then the CHU on the phone ajd. We can’t make an appointment yet they have received exactly 0 doses so far, & they literally have no idea when / how / how many they will receive…
— Cocktail mazal-tov ????? (@VN_ZotAni) July 11, 2022
Vaccination delay and lack of doses
“I registered this Monday, July 18, I’m on the waiting list,” says Martial. “There are a hundred people before me”. In his entourage, he does not know anyone who has already had access to a vaccination center. “In Vannes, I have a friend who can’t and doesn’t know how to do it”. He is sorry not to be able to communicate anything, within his association as well as to his relatives. “We have an action with the CeGGID of St-Malo planned, but it will not take place until September”, explains the activist. “In Rennes, the CeGGID is closing this summer. We don’t know what to do, we have no information.
In the middle of summer, and after a month of pride marches and festivities, anxiety swells. “I have priority, but I don’t know if I will have an appointment before the end of the summer,” he specifies. “I don’t feel protected.” At the national level, AIDES asks for a “punch vaccination”, so that the people concerned can “benefit from a complete vaccination scheme before the end of the summer”.
A worrying stigma
“Vaccinating someone who has COVID-19 or monkeypox can be done by the same person,” explains Martial. “Except that we don’t know how many doses there are distributed, supposedly for secrecy-defense”. If the cases have so far been “mostly mild”, communicates the ARS, it can cause binding pain. As a bonus, it is necessary to be strictly isolated in the event of symptoms.
“Some have to take three weeks off, it leads to lower wages. Above all, it is the issue of stigma that worries me”. Unlike COVID-19, which has no visible symptoms, monkeypox can be apparent, with rashes. As a bonus, positive cases must self-report their illness to their partners or employers. “We are back to the AIDS years”, he says, “where we believe that it is only this type of population that is concerned”.
Drip information
The lack of transparency from the authorities, and the waiting lists for vaccination add to an already substantial vaccination schedule: 2 doses, 28 days apart. Against “1 single dose for people who have already been vaccinated against smallpox, and 3 doses for immunocompromised people”, specifies public health. “It can spread very quickly, and the delays are too long,” said the activist.
To limit this propagation, some security information is transmitted. “We are told to limit contact, to wear a mask, long clothes, to be careful with our pets, which transmit contamination”, lists Martial. Simply touching contaminated clothing or laundry could be contagious.
“In the end, all we are told is to protect ourselves well”, he regrets, “but this information is given in dribs and drabs”. However, the vaccination seems to have started at the Rennes University Hospital, like this Internet user on Twitter, who succinctly shares the good news.
The Rennes University Hospital, contacted for more details, has not yet given an answer.