AstraZeneca vaccine can now be given to people over 50 years of age with co-morbidities. Injections can be performed by general practitioners since February, but can also be performed by pharmacists from Monday, March 15. A novelty that was announced by Prime Minister Jean Castex during his speech on March 4.
If the entry of pharmacies into the vaccination system is intended to speed up the campaign, a note from the Directorate General of Health (DGS) on the subject has angered general practitioners. In question ? They were told they would not receive a dose of the vaccine this week. "To allow each pharmacy to order a minimum number of doses, it is therefore necessary to target the orders for this specific week on pharmacies only", specified the DGS to Franceinfo.
Covid-19 vaccine: no doses for doctors this week
This message notified "DGS-urgent" and distributed Sunday March 7 to all practitioners indicates that "for the week of March 8, the order will only be opened for the needs of pharmacies, it will not be possible to take orders for doctors given the number of doses delivered by AstraZeneca (around 28,000 bottles available to order) ".
An announcement that caused incomprehension among general practitioners: "We are being cut off, one in two doctors in France vaccinates and things are going well. People are not declining any appointment, the wait is long. This decision is mind-boggling!", deplores in South West Nicolas Brugère, doctor in Bordeaux (Gironde). The week of February 22, which marked the start of vaccination among general practitioners, 29,000 practitioners volunteered to administer the vaccine.
For some doctors, this choice is all the more incomprehensible as all their slots dedicated to vaccination are filled for the weeks to come. "We're going to have to cancel the dates", regrets Jean-Paul Hamon, general practitioner in Clamart (Hauts-de-Seine) interviewed by The Parisian. But that's not all: other practitioners question the logic of this decision. "It is not to multiply the vaccinators, it is to multiply the vaccines", explains the Confederation of French medical unions (CSMF) in a press release.
A decision deemed "unacceptable" by the Order of Physicians
Many also perceive this decision as a lack of recognition. For example, the Union française pour une Médecine Libre (UFMLS) declared that "The reception of this circular had the effect of a bomb as the doctors saw it as an expression of contempt coupled with guilty levity. The medical profession, engaged in the vaccination campaign, is not the assertion of the Directorate General of Health ", is it written in a press release.
Press release @ufmlcommunaute on DGS circular and blocking ordering vaccines from pharmacists for doctors # COVID19 #VaccinationCovid #doctors pic.twitter.com/fzdZCsKjW5
– DrMartyUFML-S (@Drmartyufml) March 8, 2021
The Order of Physicians also reacted to the decision on Twitter: "The DGS-urgent message received by the doctors is unacceptable and must be denied by the minister Olivier Véran. Doctors, driving forces behind the vaccination campaign among the population, must be assured of their supply of doses ", can we read on the social network.
#Vaccination anti-# Covid19 : the DGS-urgent message received by the doctors is unacceptable and must be denied by the Minister @olivierveran. Doctors, driving forces behind the vaccination campaign among the population, must be assured of their supply of doses. pic.twitter.com/CQn3V1O49M
– Order of Doctors (@ordre_medecins) March 8, 2021
In a new document released by the DGS on Monday March 8, Jérôme Salomon specifies that "subject to the laboratory's volume and supply schedule being respected, orders will again be open to all health professionals likely to vaccinate in town on Monday March 15, for delivery the following week".
Read also :
⋙ AstraZeneca vaccine: more is known about side effects
⋙ AstraZeneca: vaccine batch singled out after nurse's death
⋙ Side effects, how to get vaccinated: all you need to know about the Covid-19 vaccine