After almost two months of stopping, vaccination against Covid-19 is slowly resuming in the office of Dr. Florence Lapica, general practitioner in Lyon. “We have vaccinated a dozen people, but next week’s slots are full,” reports the doctor.
“We get a little lost”
Friday, October 7, the one who chairs the MG France Rhône-Alpes union participated in a videoconference organized by the Ministry of Health. The challenge: to remind health professionals of the need to target vulnerable populations as a priority and to respect the time between injections. “It’s true that we get a little lost, confess the doctor, between the over 60s who must do their booster six months after the last injection, and the over 80s who must do so from three months, as well as nursing home residents, regardless of their age. »
Especially since, for the past few days, doctors, pharmacists and nurses have been using a new generation of vaccines, bivalent products that target Omicron in addition to the original strain of the virus. Florence Lapica will only receive them on Monday, October 10. “In the meantime, I made injections with the first generation vaccines, which did not pose any problem”, assures the general practitioner, for whom the resurgence of cases (+ 22.9% between October 1 and 8 according to Public Health France) « motive » the patients.
Reluctance towards Moderna
“New” or “old” vaccines, this does not provoke debate, abounds Pierre-Olivier Variot, president of the Union of community pharmacists (Uspo). “In fact, those who were suspicious of messenger RNA remained so, for the others, it is no longer an issue. » Clearly, they take what they are given… Even if preferences are sometimes felt: “When it comes to the next generation of vaccines, people are leaning more toward Pfizer’s, which targets the BA.4 and BA.5 sublines, while Moderna is targeting BA.1. »
In his pharmacy in Mayenne, Fabien Dutet even notes a certain rejection of Moderna products. “The controversies over side effects have left their mark. So much so that some customers prefer to be vaccinated with Pfizer’s first-generation vaccine rather than Moderna’s new vaccine, which is more specific.”he testifies.
An acceleration expected from October 18
Although the number of booster doses injected during this first week of the autumn campaign was not communicated by the ministry, the health professionals interviewed by The cross all testify to a return to vaccination, which is still timid but “fluid” and “without particular tension”.
“People are resigned”, thus observes Christine Salavert-Grizet, pharmacist in Angoulins-sur-Mer (Charente-Maritime) and president of the professional territorial health community Aunis Sud. To his great astonishment, “because this summer again, my customers no longer wanted to hear about the Covid vaccine! Today, they no longer ask questions. They know that from now on, it will be like the flu: once a year, or even twice,” estimates the pharmacist, who, like many, expects a peak in appointments at the time of the vaccination campaign against the seasonal flu, which begins on October 18.
“The public at risk (being able to declare a serious form of Covid) being the same as those who receive from health insurance a voucher for the flu vaccine, many plan to do both injections at once. We are going to fuel »she anticipates.
This is what prompted Pierre-Olivier Variot to ask the ministry to bring forward the recall campaign for the flu. In vain. “It’s a shame, because the risk is that people get vaccinated against Covid and not come back to protect themselves against the flu”points out the president of the Uspo.
But his concern, for the moment, is mainly about the proper storage of vaccines in his fridges, at a time when the threat of power cuts hovers. “The ministry assured us that it would ensure that pharmacies are spared. But if cyclic cuts were to occur, will the very fragile messenger RNA vaccines hold up? Will they keep their effectiveness?, asks the pharmacist. Today, no one knows. »