With more than 75% of its population fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, France can claim to be one of the best European students. However, two months after the launch of the recall campaign, less than 20% of French people eligible for the third dose received their injection.
And time is running out. Faced with the epidemic resumption, the issue of vaccination is crucial. So much so that the Prime Minister, himself, Jean Castex Face urged, this Friday in Montpellier, the French to “a general mobilization around vaccination”, calling on those concerned to “use the third dose”. But why is the recall campaign struggling so hard to get started?
Six months
Despite the opening of the recall campaign eight weeks ago now, they are only 3.2 million French people out of the 6.8 eligible for the third dose – the over 65s, people at risk such as obese or diabetics, immunocompromised people and their entourage and nursing staff – to have received their injection, or 43% of them, according to figures from Public Health France , published Thursday. And the gap between the different categories of eligible patients is widening. As of November 2, 74% of residents of nursing homes had received their booster dose against 69% among those over 65 living at home and only 19% for those under 65 suffering from comorbidities, detailed the instance.
One of the conditions sine qua non for the booster dose, it is the time to be observed between injections. In fact, eligible people must wait six months between the second and third dose, except in certain cases such as immunocompromised people, patients who have received the Janssen single-dose vaccine or those who have had only one dose because they have contracted the coronavirus. As of November 1, only people who received their second injection on or before May 1, 2021, were therefore eligible for the booster dose.
But it should be remembered that at that time, vaccination was not open to all audiences and the campaign was struggling to find its cruising speed. Moreover, at that date, they were only 37% of 65 years and over, or 5 million people, to be fully vaccinated. “Someone over 65 who was vaccinated in July is not yet eligible for the third dose. Someone who received their second dose on July 2 will therefore have to wait until January 2 for their booster injection, ”explains Michaël Rochoy, general practitioner, epidemiology researcher and member of the“ On the side of science ”collective, with 20 minutes.
The epidemic resumption, not yet in everyone’s mind
Contaminations are climbing everywhere in Europe, and in particular in France, to such an extent that Emmanuel Macron is due to speak on the subject Tuesday evening. However, some French people are struggling to really become aware of the epidemic resumption. For vaccinated people, who can go to restaurants, dance in a nightclub, go to a football stadium or travel, it is not always easy to realize the certain resumption of the circulation of the virus.
“A significant portion of the elderly or at risk have already taken their third dose but others are still waiting” explained Jacques Battistoni, president of the general practitioner union MG France, to our colleagues at Franceinfo, before detailing: “Some vaccinated patients feel that they do not need the booster too much at this time. They are waiting for the day when there will be a significant rise in contamination, a higher incidence rate, and at that time, they will come back quickly ”.
For Michaël Rochoy, new measures, such as the return of the mask to school, could relaunch the recall campaign: “At the end of the summer, there was a bit of an ‘the epidemic is over’ effect. The return of certain measures could motivate those eligible to receive their booster dose, ”explains the doctor, who also relies on the flu vaccine, which can be done on the same day, to encourage people to take their third dose.
Bad communication
While some find it difficult to realize the remounted of the epidemic – and therefore the need to receive a booster dose – others do not necessarily know they are eligible. “People are wondering if they should do the third dose. But they also wonder about the time between the second and the third dose. They did not necessarily retain and understand the story of the six months, ”Jacques Battistoni told Franceinfo. For Michaël Rochoy, it is the communication of the Social Security which was not up to par. “At the beginning of September, Ameli sent a letter to everyone over 65 telling them that they were eligible for the booster dose. But Social Security did not tell them when, it depends on the second dose, or where, since the vaccination centers have closed, ”annoys the practitioner.
According to our colleagues from Franceinfo, Social Security is currently testing a list for practitioners of their patients with the date of their vaccination and the date for the booster dose. “A good thing,” says Michaël Rochoy, even if this list comes too late. “It’s better than nothing, but it’s been a long time since we should have had it, it should have been done in April. Social Security has a huge role to play and it does not necessarily do it, ”concludes the doctor.