A hundred doctors are asking the government to make vaccination against Covid-19 compulsory for caregivers in hospitals and nursing homes “before the beginning of September”, in a column published on the website of Sunday newspaper. Consultation under pressure: while Prime Minister Jean Castex is due to receive from Monday the leaders of Parliament and local elected officials to address, among other things, the question of the compulsory vaccination of caregivers, several doctors are putting their weight in the balance.
And not the least. Among the 96 signatories of the text, we find several heads of service of the Hospitals of Paris (AP-HP) revealed by the health crisis, such as infectious diseases specialists Karine Lacombe and Gilles Pialoux, the resuscitator Bruno Mégarbane and the diabetologist Anne Gervais, but also the former director of Public Health France François Bourdillon, or the former president of the deans of medical schools Jean Sibilia.
57% of nursing home staff vaccinated, 64% in hospitals
In order to “avoid a fourth wave”, these practitioners ask the government “to implement the necessary measures so that the application of this decision is effective before the beginning of September”. In recent days, the rapid progress of the Delta variant has prompted the executive to relaunch this debate, which was already raised in March. Vaccination rates have since increased, but still remain insufficient: 57% in nursing homes, 64% in hospitals according to the French Hospital Federation (FHF).
The Minister of Health Olivier Véran set a target of 80% for them “by September” on Tuesday, failing which the Covid would be added to the legal list of compulsory vaccines for caregivers – diphtheria, tetanus, polio, hepatitis B. But three days later, he said he was in favor of a tighter timetable: “If there is a law, I want it to be examined and adopted by Parliament as soon as possible, why not as soon as possible. the month of July “.