Should vaccination be made compulsory for caregivers? The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, had already said to think about it, and things seem to be clarified. The government thus hopes that“At least 80%” of nursing home and hospital staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19 “By September”, otherwise it will open “The way of an obligation”, according to a letter consulted Tuesday, June 29 by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Our goal is that, by September, at least 80% of professionals in nursing homes and health establishments have received at least one dose”, write the ministers of health, Olivier Véran, and the minister of autonomy, Brigitte Bourguignon, in this letter addressed to the directors of hospitals and retirement homes, dated Monday.
“Otherwise, we will pave the way for compulsory vaccination for health professionals”, they add, more specifically designating nursing homes and long-term care units where “Only 55% of professionals have received at least one dose”.
“It is insufficient and it is not a normal situation with regard to the fragility of the residents, in a context of threats linked to the appearance and the spread of certain worrying variants”, insist the two ministers. The government thus specifies for the first time its target for vaccination coverage among caregivers, after several warnings.
“The only way out”
Tuesday morning again, Mr. Véran had again threatened on Franceinfo to make the vaccination ” obligatory “ in September for caregivers if the “Work of conviction” was not enough during the summer. He thus declared:
“I cannot take the risk of having waves of Covid in nursing homes, of being forced to close the nursing homes, of being forced to tell tens, hundreds of thousands of elderly people who have nothing asked that they can no longer see their families, that they can no longer go out, and count the sick and victims in nursing homes because there would be a fear that could not have been fought and conquered. “
Recalling the need to go through the law, he cited the precedents of the obligation of vaccination against hepatitis B to work in the hospital or that against yellow fever to go to Guyana.
“I do not want to blame the caregivers, their work is complicated and they are fed up, they have had a very difficult year”, he explained. But, he added, “The only way to get by and relegate the Covid to oblivion is to protect the most fragile among us, those who, even vaccinated, remain at a low risk of dying or having a serious form “.
Asked about the request of general practitioners to have a list of their vaccinated patients, the minister assured that the CNIL would give a favorable opinion on Thursday. “They will have it, I tell you, I sincerely wish it, I ask the CNIL to give me the possibility of sending general practitioners the list of their patients who have been vaccinated so that they can mobilize those who have not been ”, continued Mr. Véran.