“What is rare is expensive, of course.
Like many doctors, infectious disease specialist Benjamin Davido is faced with the impatience of certain patients or caregivers who would like to be vaccinated as soon as possible but who are condemned to wait, the time to integrate the population categories eligible for vaccination .
The campaign began in nursing homes at the end of December, then it opened on January 4 to health professionals aged at least 50 or with co-morbidities.
Two weeks later, on January 18, people aged 75 or older or with serious illness entered the circuit.
The list of these chronic pathologies is obviously not extensible.
It includes, in particular, cancer, severe kidney disease, or even Down's syndrome. But not people suffering from obesity, diabetes, or certain respiratory diseases, for example.
So, some may be tempted to find a way to go faster.
"I hesitated a lot before accepting"
Like Alain *, who, in a small Facebook group of people campaigning to be quickly vaccinated, boasts of having received a "plunger" to receive a first dose of Pfizer serum.
In his publication, the man, based in Polynesia, however specifies that he is 65 years old, which would in principle exclude him from priority people (you must be at least 75 years old).
But he suffered from cancer and he has diabetes, which he says makes him more fragile.
"I had a privilege given my age, because of my work as a sophrologist with cancer patients", explains the one who also calls himself "dowser".
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“A patient, suffering from lupus but with not too heavy a treatment, called me asking if I could give her a certificate.
I replied that normally no because it is not on the list, then I hesitated a lot before accepting, ”says Michaël Rochoy, general practitioner in Outreau (Pas-de-Calais).
The woman was ultimately not immediately vaccinated since her first appointment was canceled for lack of doses.
“Karma,” smiles his guardian angel.
“On Doctolib, the instructions are specified when making an appointment.
A prescription is then in theory obligatory but the problem is that there is a certain vagueness at the level of the criteria.
It is not always clearly defined, ”adds his colleague Jonathan Favre, who works in Villeneuve-d'Ascq.
The young general practitioner even noticed that a patient had been vaccinated when she did not go a priori in the nails.
The prescribing doctor, "who was honest", was nonetheless called to order informally.
A 74-year-old patient leaving for Africa
In Paris, Bertrand *, for his part, takes care of patients not yet a priority on paper.
General practitioner, he participated in several vaccinations in nursing homes.
Often, at the end of the day, doses were left on his arms.
“In this case, we call fragile people who live in the neighborhood.
There was a 74-year-old who was about to leave for Africa on a humanitarian mission.
Her profile seemed urgent to me so I vaccinated her in my soul and conscience.
It is a form of privilege, but it is above all so as not to throw away stock, ”he says.
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The extra doses in the evening, many young caregivers also say they took advantage.
For those under 50 and without comorbidities, vaccination was not supposed to start until the beginning of February with AstraZeneca.
A young doctor in Strasbourg “received a leftover Pfizer bottle one evening in January because all the people planned did not come” and is now fully vaccinated.
"The health manager, seeing me, asks me:
oh well, by the way,
you wouldn't want to be vaccinated
?
Apparently there were too many doses.
I was surprised but as I was planning to get vaccinated, I said yes, ”says a physiotherapist who works in an nursing home in Île-de-France.
"Exposed a little more than the French population"
Pierre * is a 34-year-old pharmacist.
His profile is also not a priority for vaccination - he cannot even administer one at the moment.
However, the man based in the Paris region, has also recovered a dose "in rab".
“I saw an email passing on the mailbox of the pharmacy saying that the nearest hospital was opening a vaccination center for health professionals.
The town hall said that it took all the requests while prioritizing according to government recommendations, ”he says.
“I called the relevant department, and said if there were dose funds available, I was okay to go.
I received my first vaccination on January 13, ”continues the pharmacist, who had his second injection on February 9.
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Pierre is not technically "on the front line" in the face of the epidemic.
But it was important for the pharmacist to protect himself as much as possible.
"I am well aware of not being exposed as an emergency physician, but I am a little more exposed than the French population, with the antigenic tests, carried out under conditions not necessarily perfect in terms of protective equipment", judge the Francilien .
“I was a little surprised at the prioritization made on vaccine recommendations.
I think that caregivers of all ages should have been included.
I don't claim to save lives, but I think the priority is at least the caregivers in the Covid care units, because when they get sick, they are not replaced, ”he adds. .
The CGT accuses, the mayor of Paris denies
There are those who take advantage of the "system" or schemes, but also those who are accused of being boosted.
The mayor of Compiègne, Philippe Marini, 71, has already received a first injection, as revealed by the local press.
Faced with criticism of favoritism, he fully assumes to the point of wanting that all elected officials can be vaccinated as a priority.
When asked in what capacity he was able to be vaccinated, he takes refuge behind medical confidentiality and assures that he had a prescription in due form.
According to L'Express, Nicolas Sarkozy, 66, also received his first dose in January, at the Percy military hospital, without his entourage indicating any particular reason for the moment.
Recently, several controversies have emerged about the vaccination of non-priority people, who would have benefited from real privilege thanks to their status.
At the end of January, the CGT ensured that the vaccination center of the Hôtel-Dieu had vaccinated administrative staff of the City of Paris, while it was not a priority.
What the City denied, after an internal investigation.
According to a survey by France Info, members of the board of directors of the American Hospital of Neuilly-sur-Seine, were also able to receive their two injections in January.
There again, without being part of the priority audiences.
But this kind of case seems marginal, according to all our different interlocutors.
