Vaccination against Covid-19 should be deployed in around twenty establishments for the elderly next week, after the symbolic launch of the vaccine campaign on Sunday in two structures.
The first doses of the vaccine developed by the American Pfizer and the German BioNTech arrived on French soil on Saturday.
“Twenty-three establishments” in the regions of Paris, Lyon, Lille and the Tours sector should begin to vaccinate next week, said the office of Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, during a press briefing.
About twenty residents vaccinated on Sunday
Sunday, the day of the concerted launch of vaccination in the countries of the European Union, around ten residents over 75 years old as well as a doctor or health professional over 65 years old will be vaccinated in the morning at the unit long-term care facility at René-Muret hospital (Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris) in Sevran, in Seine-Saint-Denis. They will be as much at the beginning of the afternoon at the geriatric center of Champmaillot, which depends on the CHU of Dijon.
Vaccination will intensify to reach around a hundred establishments for the elderly in the first two weeks of January, then become “massive” from mid-January, according to Olivier Véran’s entourage.
One million vaccinated by the end of February
It should reach, by the end of February, one million vaccinated among people aged over 75 and health professionals over 65 and / or at risk of developing serious forms of the disease.
Everyone over 65 will follow until spring, followed by the rest of the population aged 16 and over.
The government has set the goal of “15 million vaccinations by this summer,” said Matignon, a deadline slightly later than what he had announced.
Non-compulsory vaccination
Vaccination against Covid-19 is not compulsory. Performed on medical prescription, it must be preceded by a pre-vaccination consultation to detect any contraindications, allergies or infections, and obtain the consent of the person.
If the person cannot give an “informed” consent, his legal representative, his “person of confidence”, or failing that a person of his family will be able to make the choice for him, indicates the vaccination protocol sent by the Ministry of Health to all nursing homes. Without an agreement, there will be no vaccination.
In its favorable opinion made public Thursday, the High Authority for Health (HAS) estimated that if the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech demonstrated “significant” effectiveness in preventing the development of Covid-19, it did not exist “for the there is currently no information on the impact of this vaccine on the transmission of the virus “.
Reduce mortality and severe forms of Covid-19
The vaccine campaign which will begin on Sunday mainly aims to “reduce mortality and severe forms” of the disease, recalled the Directorate General of Health during the briefing.
Concerning the new strains of the coronavirus which appeared in the United Kingdom and South Africa, the DGS estimated that although “appeared after vaccine research”, they “suggest that (existing) vaccines are effective on these mutants”.
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