Pharmacists can now administer not only the flu and Covid-19 vaccines to over 16s, but also most of those recommended for adults.
It had been announced since the spring, now it has come into practice: the vaccination skills of pharmacists have been extended since 7 November. Now they can give vaccines against diphtheria, polio, tetanus, whooping cough, papillomavirus, hepatitis A and B, invasive pneumococcal infections, various meningitis and rabies to those over 16 years old. That is, roughly speaking, the main vaccines recommended for adulthood. Until then, their scope of intervention was limited to flu and Covid-19 vaccines. The injection will be billed at €7.50, 65% covered by health insurance, the remaining 35% covered by supplementary health insurance.
For the moment, the vaccination certificate can only be carried out in a pharmacy if the vaccine is subject to a medical prescription. Specifically, it is necessary that your doctor has prescribed it in advance. It’s up to you to understand if, once the product has been delivered, you prefer to go home for the shot, or if you do it on the spot. Please note that not all pharmacies provide vaccines. The gesture requires specific training, in particular for protocol monitoring and monitoring of adverse effects, as well as the go-ahead from the Regional Health Agency (Ars). But there is no doubt that if the pharmacy that delivers the vaccine to you is licensed, it will inform you of the possibility of being vaccinated within its walls.
Everything can be done at the pharmacy
Finally, the pharmaceutical agreement entered into between the pharmacy unions and the health insurance fund provides that pharmacies will be able to take charge of the entire vaccination cycle: there will no longer be a need to go to the doctor for the prescription, it can be done in pharmacies, on the initiative of the pharmacist. Parliament has yet to confirm this development and specify its application. But one thing is already decided: the price. Without a prescription, it will be €9.60. It should be noted that in the overseas departments and territories the tariffs, with or without prescription, are affected by a coefficient equal to 1.05.
The agreement between trade unions and social security does not go further, but also the High Authority for Health (HAS), which had given its approval to the vaccination of adults in pharmacies, had expressed itself last June in favor of vaccinating children by pharmacists, midwives and nurses. The goal is, in a context of scarcity of medical supply, to relieve doctors of the obligations that hitherto incumbent on them.
