Monday April 22 marks the start of European Vaccination Week. Public Health France (SPF) takes the opportunity to publish a report which shows that the level of vaccination of the French has generally increased in 2023.
In infants, the health agency notes “significant increases in vaccination coverage for newly recommended vaccinations”. Against meningococcus B, nearly 75% of infants born in 2023 received at least one dose at eight months, compared to nearly 49% of babies in 2022. Against rotavirus, one of the causes of gastroenteritis, approximately a third of infants born in 2023 – the first cohort for which vaccination is recommended – received at least one dose at 8 months, specifies SPF.
For compulsory infant vaccinations, coverage is generally high, but progress is insufficient against measles, still below the 95% objective. In view of “the resurgence of preventable diseases such as measles” and the arrival of millions of foreign visitors during the Olympic Games, “it is particularly necessary (…) to strengthen vaccination catch-up for all children, adolescents and young adults born after 1980 who have not received a complete two-dose schedule”, argues the agency. Among adolescents, the proportion of people vaccinated against meningococcus C increased sharply in 2023, to 48% compared to 43.8% in 2022.
Insufficient vaccination against influenza and Covid-19 among people at risk
In adults, vaccination coverage against influenza and Covid-19 “remain insufficient among people at risk”.
A little more than half of those aged 65 and over (54%) were vaccinated against the flu in the 2023-2024 season, i.e. 2.2 points less than a year earlier, and a little more than a quarter ( 25.4%) of those under 65 at risk of serious illness, or 6.2 points less. Against Covid, only a third of those aged 65 and over have been vaccinated.
This 2023 report does not include vaccination data against human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, which will be added ” shortly “.
“Stabilized” vaccination adherence
Another lesson: adherence to vaccination has increased “stabilized” in France “at a high level” : more than 8 in 10 people are in favor of vaccination in general, according to Public Health France.
This proportion (83.7%) appears “generally stable” compared to 2021 and 2022 (82.5% and 84.6% respectively) and exceeds pre-Covid, between 2010 and 2019, according to the 2023 edition of the Health Barometer, a survey system with representative samples. But strong socio-economic disparities remain.
If the proportion of people very favorable to vaccination (34.7%) has increased compared to 2022 and returned to 2020-2021 levels, “vaccination adherence remains lower among people with the lowest qualifications or income”, reports SPF. And, for the first time since the Covid pandemic, this support tends to decrease among older people.
Distrust regarding certain vaccinations mainly affects Covid (29% of 18-75 year olds in mainland France are against it), ahead of flu (6%), hepatitis B (4%), HPV (3%).