“We anticipate a strong demand in the coming days, everything will be done so that people can do their recall in serene conditions,” assured the Ministry of Health on Tuesday.
The days pass, and the deadline draws near. As of February 15, to be validated, a vaccination pass will require receiving a booster dose “from 3 months after the end of his initial vaccination schedule and within a maximum of 4 months“, against seven months so far. A major change, which could have serious consequences for millions of French people.
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During a press briefing on Tuesday, the Ministry of Solidarity and Health indeed quantified the number of individuals at risk of losing their vaccination pass within a fortnight at around “7.1 million people“. By February 15, 45.9 million people should have received a booster dose, and to date, 34.7 million have already fulfilled this condition. “There are therefore 7.1 million people missing, as of January 30, who still have to do their recall, once the contaminations recorded over the past three months have been removed.“, we explained.
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Note that this figure is probably overestimated: as the February 15 deadline approaches, several million French people will receive their booster dose. “We anticipate a strong demand in the coming days, so everything will be done so that people can do their reminder in serene conditions. Closing vaccination centers is out of the question“, assured the ministry. In addition, several hundred thousand eligible people are at risk of being infected with the Omicron variant in the next fortnight, and will therefore not be able to receive their booster dose for several months.
The recall campaign continues to gain momentum: according to Public Health France, at the end of January, three quarters of adults eligible for the recall had actually received it, a proportion which rises to 88.9% among those aged 65 and over. These days, around 200,000 booster doses were administered on average each day, and on Doctolib, around 100,000 slots are reserved daily to receive a booster dose. Or 675,000 slots over the last seven days. In free fall since January, the rate of injection of the third doses is partly offset by contamination, thus distorting the final calculation.
The vaccination campaign for people with overdue psychiatric pathologies
During the press briefing, the Ministry of Health also insisted on the situation of people with addictions and psychiatric pathologies. The vaccination campaign is progressing too slowly within these fragile populations, we were worried, underlining “figures that appear to be indented“. According to Medicare, 86% of people with dementia completed their initial vaccination schedule, and 81.3% received their booster, compared to 88% and 64%, respectively, of individuals with mental retardation, 83, 1% and 57.2% for people with alcohol use disorders, for example.
“There is a particular message to convey to these populations and the health professionals who monitor them.“, it was said. One “action plan» under consideration should make it possible to «kick things up a bit“. Several million people are affected,hence the need to tackle this subject“, we justified ourselves. For now, the details of the “planare not known, but Olivier Véran’s teams want to work with the health professionals concerned to define the contours and improve the situation.
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