"Our employees should not be the big ones forgotten by the vaccination against Covid-19", warns Florence Fresse, general delegate of the French Federation of Funeral Directors (FFPF).
She will bring this message this Friday to the National Council of Funeral Operations (Cnopf), an advisory body placed with the Minister of the Interior.
"It would be incomprehensible if they were not among the priority professionals," continues the general delegate.
I would remind you that carrier staff go to the homes of the deceased and to nursing
homes (accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people)
and that, even if the body of the deceased is no longer a vector of contamination, these professionals are in contact. with the family and staff of nursing homes.
They are clearly exposed to the risk of contamination. "
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During the first wave of the pandemic in France, the representative of professionals in the sector emphasizes that they had been "forgotten" from the distribution of masks and gloves.
"However, an hour after death, a victim of Covid-19 can remain contagious even if we have very few studies on this risk of contagiousness", regrets Florence Fresse.
It remains to quantify the number of people likely to benefit from vaccination in this sector.
“It's difficult, admits the head of the FFPF.
As much as we can know the number of employees of large companies such as PFG
(General Funeral Services)
, we are at a loss to know how many professionals are in charge of an activity in very small structures.
Because some have another main activity (ambulance workers, carpenters, florists, marble workers, etc.) with funeral directors' authorization. "
The federation estimates the number of people working in this sector at around 25,000, of which 15,000 to 20,000 are said to be in direct contact with the deceased and his entourage.
It is for these several thousand people exposed every day that Florence Fresse will ask for priority access to vaccination.
“It seems crazy that they were not even mentioned straight away on the list of priority professionals,” she laments.