August 10, 2022, 17:25 PM
August 10, 2022, 17:25 PM
During the next few days, five pharmacies in France will be the prelude to what could be the next step in the vaccination campaign against monkeypox. Faced with criticism about the increase in infected people and the slowness with which vaccination is taking place, the Ministry of Health has responded with this strategy that aims to facilitate access to the vaccine, as long as the logistics problem is resolved.
Quite a challenge, then. the vaccines must be kept at a temperature equal to or less than -80°C, and there are only 15 days to be applied after thawing. According to Nicolas Derche, president of the health area of the SOS France group, this logistics is quite a challenge, because they leave the “government warehouse where the vaccines are kept at the indicated temperature, then they arrive at the premises, they are thawed and then you have 15 days to administer these doses, that is, they must be applied as quickly as possible to avoid being discarded. To achieve this, it is necessary to have sufficient medical personnel.
It is for this reason that the government will observe the operation of this strategy for the next two weeks.. Two of the pharmacies that currently apply the vaccine are in the metropolitan area of the French capital; another two in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region (southeast), and the last one is located in the city of Lille, in northern France. Given its proximity to Belgium, this pharmacy has seen the attendance of numerous residents of that neighboring country. This is the case of a Frenchman who had to travel to this city because “vaccination conditions are much more restrictive (in Belgium)”, according to an interview conducted by the AFP news agency.
A campaign understaffed
One of the criticisms that has been made of this campaign has been the lack of means to respond to the number of patients requesting the vaccine.. The main proof is the lack of availability of appointments in Doctolib, the site to schedule a vaccination time, which is constantly saturated. Given this lack of availability, many patients line up very early outside the vaccination centers hoping to get at least one appointment for later or in the following days.
Numerous associations, citizens and politicians have warned of the lack of means to respond to this public health emergency, and even have shown their indignation at the slowness of the government responsejudging it inadmissible that France, after the experience of the coronavirus, react so slowly.
Prioritize the LGBTQ+ community
Although vaccination is currently open to the public, associations and the government prioritize most vulnerable population made up of homosexuals, transsexuals, male and female sex workersand all professionals who work in this field.
In the French capital, for example, “the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of the Paris metropolitan area selected two pharmacies whose public mainly belongs to the LGBTQ+ community. They are places that already provided antiretrovirals or pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV (PrEP)”, explains Nicolas Derche. “However, these establishments are being charged with many more tasks.”
“Currently there are no more Covid vaccination centers, those who are now applying that vaccine are pharmacies and general practitioners, but above all pharmacies are the ones that vaccinate the most,” said Victor de Ponsay, a doctor at the Checkpoint community health center. “In addition, these establishments carry out the antigenic tests for Covid, and now they want to add the task of applying the monkeypox vaccine, personally I think it is too much”,
“Perhaps it would be more prudent if liberal nurses could collect a certain number of vaccines according to the number of patients who request it. It is good that there are pharmacies that vaccinate!, but that the conditions that the medical personnel who will apply them will have are specified”.
Currently, the French territory has 153 vaccination centers and 20,322 people have obtained at least one of the two doses against monkeypox.
