The flu epidemic is beginning to take off in France, but the vaccination campaign is far from following the same trajectory. The two main pharmacists’ unions are alarmed this Tuesday regarding this «retard important», fearing that the circulation of the virus will become “particularly intense” in the next weeks. “It is time to alert”, asserts to Release Philippe Besset, President of the Federation of Pharmaceutical Unions of France (FSPF), the first union in the profession. “The vaccination numbers are not good. There is a sharp drop in the number of doses administered compared to last year.
A month following the launch of the flu vaccination campaign in the country – October 18 – just over 7 million doses have been distributed, compared to 8.6 million last year during the same period. That is 18.3% less, according to data collected from 14,000 of the 20,000 French pharmacies and published by the company IQVIA, a specialist in health data, on its “opendata platform” (iqvia.opendatasoft.com).
For Olivier Variot, director of the Union of Unions of Community Pharmacists (Unspo) contacted by telephone, two ingredients contribute to this poor performance: rather mild weather and letters from Health Insurance calling for vaccination arrived too earlier than the start of the campaign. “Many people came to get their vaccine when it was not yet available. They put away their vouchers and then they forgot to iron,” sorry caregiver.
It is urgent to accelerate because “the indicators of the arrival of the flu have started to light up in Brittany”which entered the pre-epidemic phase at the beginning of November, underlined the Minister of Health, François Braun, this Sunday on RTL, calling the nascent epidemic a “virulent”. For its part, Public Health France noted a “activity on the rise in town and in hospital among those under 15”, in his weekly point on the flu epidemic, on November 16th.
“Barrier gestures”
The Uspo, for its part, reports a “higher flu activity” to other years, leaving “predict a premature and particularly intense epidemic” in a city. A notable danger for vulnerable people, which circulates at the same time as the Covid-19, once more. “It’s not too late [pour se faire vacciner] but you have to do it quickly”concludes the union president.
Philippe Besset of the FSPF also challenges the population concerned: “You have to come and get the vaccine from the pharmacy and continue to respect the barrier gestures. It’s the best way not to get sick and to protect others.” People aged 65 and over, pregnant women, people suffering from obesity and the chronically ill can get vaccinated free of charge from a general practitioner, a midwife, a nurse or from a pharmacy.
Each year, between 2 and 8 million French people contract the flu, causing 10,000 to 15,000 deaths, “mainly in fragile subjects”estimated the Pasteur Institute in 2019.