A vaccination center stormed by hundreds of elderly people ready to play elbows - and sometimes cane - to obtain the precious serum, hundreds of disappointed who will have made the trip in vain for lack of appointments and a saturated municipal standard.
This Monday, in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine), the first day of the vaccination campaign for over 75s came to an end: at the end of the day, only 18 people had been vaccinated out of the approximately 9,000 people concerned in this city of 121,000 inhabitants.
A scenario that repeated itself everywhere in France.
Too much demand?
And for good reason: after the accelerator wanted by the government, the list of people to be vaccinated has significantly increased: the over 75s represent 5 million people, to which are added 800,000 people "at risk".
We must also deal with the unprecedented enthusiasm of the French for the vaccination campaign.
According to a survey revealed by "Le Parisien", they are 54% to want to be vaccinated, or fifteen points more than in December.
“All appointments are booked.
“They are tens of thousands on Monday, to have heard this voice message.
A situation difficult to understand for many citizens ready to be vaccinated.
In Boulogne-Billancourt, Simone, a smart octogenarian, went in vain early in the morning in front of the stadium transformed into a vaccination center.
Furious, she brandishes the impression of the Doctolib Internet page on which she carried out her procedures without obtaining the precious sesame.
“I did not receive a confirmation email and the phone number to make an appointment never answers,” she denounces.
Behind her, Andrée, an energetic 85-year-old grandmother raises her voice in an attempt to win the Grail.
She also explains having encountered "a computer problem" [...] "In addition, there is no one on the other end of the line," she pleaded.
The proof ?
Nokia 33 10 in hand, she makes a call to the loudspeaker which immediately falls on the answering machine.
Why so few niches?
In some centers, it is the lack of personnel that is lacking.
In rural areas, some also deplore the remoteness of vaccination sites.
But the crux of the matter lies in the number of doses made available by the government.
“The problem is that we are completely dependent on the stocks available, explains the entourage of the mayor (LR) of Boulogne-Billancourt, Pierre-Christophe Baguet.
Tomorrow we will be able to vaccinate 54 people, Wednesday 138 and we hope to be able to ramp up. "
"The State has ordered an insufficient number to meet its objectives […] we will be disappointed a lot", fears Isabelle Domenech-Bonet, general practitioner in Allier and responsible for the vaccination center of Moulins.
The one who is also a member of the MG France union, the first union among general practitioners, observes, her eyes riveted on her agenda: “We have a few places left the week of February 8 and after that it's over.
»What will happen afterwards?
“Beyond February 14, we were told:
You wait, you don't make any more appointments, we will give you instructions later.
"An injunction given to other departments" in order to better organize the distribution of second doses ", indicates a prefect in an e-mail to which we had access.
Patience, repeats for its part the government in the face of criticism.
"Not everyone can be vaccinated in a day or a week, not because the logistics would not follow, but because the challenge is to have enough doses to vaccinate all the French," said Olivier Véran this Monday during a visit to the vaccination center of the Grenoble University Hospital (Isère).
By the end of the month, the government, which receives 500,000 doses per week, hopes to have vaccinated at least one million people.
Is the situation the same everywhere?
In the “territories in which the virus circulates the most, in particular the Grand-Est, Bourgogne Franche-Comté or Nice and the Alpes-Maritimes […], we have given more vaccines with the Moderna vaccine, because there l 'epidemic causes much more damage than in Grenoble or elsewhere in France, ”said the Minister of Health.
In the Alpes-Maritimes, where the incidence rate reaches 450 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, we are sure not to have seen the color.
On the contrary.
“On January 14, the ARS informed us that we would no longer have 300 daily doses, but 200. It's very problematic, we had proposed slots based.
And we have nearly 10,000 people pre-registered ”, deplores the entourage of David Lisnard, the mayor (LR) of the city.
Is this a problem specific to France?
All European countries are dependent on the production of laboratories.
On Friday, Pfizer and BioNTech gave many of them a cold sweat by unexpectedly announcing that they would not be able to deliver the amount of doses they had committed to.
Before promising "a plan" to limit damage.
In early January, Germany had been forced to close its vaccinodromes for lack of vaccine doses.
“Each time doses arrive, we make them immediately available, we open meeting slots for the French.
We are in a tight flow, it is our strategy, it is the strategy of all the countries that vaccinate, ”Olivier Véran recalled on Monday.
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VIDEO. "4 million French" could be "vaccinated at the end of February", recalls Véran
When will the situation improve?
When contacted, the Directorate General of Health (DGS) was not available to answer our questions.
To speed up the pace, general practitioners are pleading to be more directly associated with the campaign.
The arrival of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is easier to store, also raises much hope.
"Pharmacists must also be able to have Moderna vaccine in their refrigerators", pleads Isabelle Domenech-Bonet.
In many pharmacies, everything seems ready to start vaccinating.
But again, be patient, pharmacists are still waiting for a possible green light from the government.
In the meantime, those who are already vaccinated enjoy “soon to find the grandchildren” and “the life before”, like André and Gisèle Mougin, 91 years old.
The bite ?
"Barely felt," they whisper.
It is much less spectacular than on TV.
They are already looking forward to the recall in three weeks.
Before leaving, they promised it, swore to the doctor: "We will not have a rave party before the second injection!"
"