The freedom to open on Sundays “to carry out anti-epidemic activities” was to end on January 31. It is extended.
Central in the fight against the epidemic, pharmacies will be able to remain mobilized longer than expected. In a decree published today in the official journal, the government indicates that the “circulation of the epidemic and […] the demand for screening which remains at a very high leveljustify leaving these establishments the possibility of opening on Sundays until the end of March.
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Last December, the executive decided that pharmacies could “open on Sundays outside the duty of care to carry out activities to fight the epidemic (tests and vaccination in particular)“. This freedom was to end on January 31, and aimed to strengthen the arsenal mobilized against the Omicron variant. To encourage them to stay open, an increase of five euros has been put in place for “the act of vaccination“.
However, the peak of the current wave is still awaited, and pharmacies remain essential in the context of testing activities as well as the vaccination campaign. Since the beginning of January, more than 10 million samples have been counted each week, including a large proportion of antigens, often carried out in pharmacies. This type of test represents more than two-thirds of the samples recorded each week since the end of December. Pharmacies are therefore in high demand, as are laboratories.
Same observation for vaccinations: while hundreds of thousands of doses are used daily, pharmacies in pharmacies have a central role, alongside vaccination centres. They represented, last week, 60% of all injections carried out in the city, the rest being done by doctors (28%) and nurses (13%), according to figures communicated by the Ministry of Solidarity and Health. . In terms of city medicine, pharmacies therefore have an enormous weight.
Under these conditions, the possibility of opening on Sunday for these professionals will remain effective until March 31, specifies the decree. They will therefore be able to vaccinate against Covid-19, test, carry out a “double vaccination against covid-19 and seasonal flu» and dispense «level 1 painkillers“. A way to keep them mobilized, on the front line, until a hoped-for lull on the health front. This week, the president of the Scientific Council, Jean-François Delfraissy, indicated that we “can imagine a spring of 2022 in not too bad conditions, subject to a new variant“.
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New “effectors” mobilized for testing
In addition, the decree published in the Official Journal indicates that new “effectors” may be mobilized as part of the test activities. Faced with massive demand, certain firefighters, Paris firefighters, Marseille firefighters, members of an approved civil security association, in particular, will be able to test, provided they are “under the responsibility of an authorized health professional» and to have been trained to carry out this act.
These different categories of people join the – very – numerous already mobilized for the tests, whether they are medical students, molecular biology students, caregivers, dental assistants, opticians or even nurses, pharmacists or dental surgeons.