“I do not believe at all that this will stop the epidemic”

This could be part of the measures announced by the President of the Republic on July 12: compulsory vaccination for nursing staff. At Dijon University Hospital, the idea does not meet with open support.

In order to cope with the rise of the Delta variant of the Coronavirus, Emmanuel Macron could announce compulsory vaccination for healthcare workers.
The Scientific Council had already given a notice on Friday July 6, pleading in favor of vaccination for all caregivers and medico-social personnel.

Hospital vaccination rate above average

According to François Thibaut, CGT representative at Dijon University Hospital, “We are more than 70% of staff who are vaccinated, including many caregivers. In the remaining 30%, we have a lot of technical and administrative staff, who are not in contact with patients.”

“I do not believe at all that this will stop the epidemic”

François Thibaut remains skeptical as to the scope of the measure: “It is not in the hospital that we catch the Covid the most!”

The explanation, according to him, lies in the lack of personnel: “There has clearly been a great responsibility on the part of the public authorities for more than a year: today with the fatigue of the staff and with the resignations that have been recorded throughout the year, we have very reduced hospital capacities. . We are really sure a scapegoat phenomenon. In reality, it would be necessary to go very quickly on a systematic vaccination, it is the only way to stop the epidemic, but it is absolutely not a sufficient element to vaccinate only the caregivers. “

According to him, the emergence of the Delta variant could once again put the health care teams back on track: “We would not want to leave with an epidemic that would undermine our hospital capacity and impose new, much stronger restrictive measures on us.”

Like the various announcements of the Ségur de la Santé “were not followed by actions “, needs are “still there” at the hospital: in Dijon, 30 medical posts are occupied, while a need for“fifty” is expected. “We are missing about fifteen doctors so as not to be in tension. “

Caregivers are “aware” vaccination

The trade unionist believes that imposing vaccination on caregivers would be a form of “additional pressure” on staff: “Before the epidemic, the hospital was a place where we were already extremely vigilant, especially with regard to nosocomial diseases. At all times, it is taken into account and very well managed inside the hospital.”

On the other hand, what the trade unionist denounces, it is the “nonsense” of not being able to control the visitors who can again go to the patients. “We will ask caregivers for compulsory vaccination and at the same time, we will allow people to enter the establishment for whom we do not know the state of health.”

The expected reaction to the announcements

If the Head of State announces compulsory vaccination, caregivers risk “crisper“, because they believe they are suffering “accumulation”. François Thibaut recalls that “Healthcare workers are very responsible people who will not endanger the lives of patients.”

The trade unionist believes that“After the compulsory vaccination of personnel in Ephad, then that of personnel in hospitals, perhaps this will serve as an example to motivate the entire population to be vaccinated!”

From recommendations of the Scientific Council, listed on July 6 : “an unvaccinated person is 12 times more likely to transmit SARS-CoV-2 than a vaccinated person”

While a fourth epidemic wave is looming, a third of French people over 65 have not yet been vaccinated.
In detail, 15.52% of people aged 75 and over and 14.47% of 65-74 years are not vaccinated against the virus, even partially, according to data from the CovidTracker website.

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