From his pharmacy located in Montélimar, pharmacist Gilles Bonnefond does not know what to answer to users who ask him when he can inject them with a vaccine against Covid-19.
And he regrets it.
"I would like to be able to give them a specific date", explains the national president of the Union of Unions of Pharmacists of Pharmacies (USPO).
Doctors have one: February 25.
Starting next Thursday, they will be able to administer the AstraZeneca antidote to people aged 50-64 with co-morbidities.
Pharmacists, however, will have to wait several more weeks.
The decree allowing them to be vaccinated should appear "during the month of March", indicates the General Directorate of Health (DGS) on Thursday.
A delay justified by "the rate of consumption of doses by doctors", which remain a priority in the process, and the "volume of the AstraZeneca vaccine supply rate, in the process of stabilization", specifies the health authority.
“It's much too late,” Judge Gilles Bonnefond.
"We put the cart before the horse"
While pharmacists grow impatient, doctors' unions are not of the same opinion.
Some have expressed their dissatisfaction after the note from the High Authority for Health (HAS), made in early February on the AstraZeneca vaccine, which recommended including pharmacists in the vaccination campaign.
“The primary vaccination - when you vaccinate someone for the first time - must be done by the doctor, insists Jean-Paul Hamon, honorary president of the Federation of Doctors of France (FMF).
We must monitor reactions, especially allergic reactions, check that there is no anaphylactic shock, ”explains the trade unionist.
Why not administer the second dose in pharmacies "if the person wishes", "provided that the pharmacist clearly indicates to the doctor, by secure messaging, that the reminder has been made".
For him, it is "the quality of patient care" that is called into question.
"General medicine is not a succession of small acts that can be done by other professions without any coordination of care," he said.
And the honorary president of the FMF to advance that the problem does not lie, according to him, in the workload of the doctors to vaccinate massively - "one could be supported in cabinet by liberal nurses" -, but rather in lack of doses.
“We put the cart before the horse, also loose Jean-Paul Ortiz, president of the Confederation of French medical unions (CSMF).
We multiply the vectors of vaccination, while we do not have enough vaccines, "deplores the trade unionist, who speaks of a" premature debate ".
"We have know-how"
But, for the Order of Pharmacists, it is urgent.
"If the stake in this fight against the epidemic is speed, then the vaccine, as soon as it is received, must be injected into the patient's arm," insists Carine Wolf-Thal, president of the National Council of Order.
“It doesn't matter that there aren't enough doses!
It does not matter whether it is the doctor, the pharmacist, the midwife, the nurse who vaccinates.
By limiting this vaccination to doctors only, we run the risk of delaying it and I do not think we can afford it.
"
Doctors "volunteers" to vaccinate in their offices had until Wednesday evening to come to their referral pharmacy if they wanted to receive a ten-dose vial of the AstraZeneca vaccine next week.
“As of February 18, 28,844 liberal doctors” have come forward, the DGS tells us.
Instead of the 780,000 doses expected this week, 550,000 will be delivered by the manufacturer.
"This drop will be caught up with deliveries at the end of February," said the health authority.
"With nearly 29,000 doctors who will have ten doses each, this means that there will be around 260,000 doses left in the government fridges, which we will not be able to use immediately", annoys Philippe Besset, president of the Federation. of the pharmaceutical unions of France (FSPF), which calls for the authorization of vaccination in pharmacies as quickly as possible.
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No priority, they still managed to get vaccinated against Covid-19
Unlike messenger RNA vaccines, such as those from Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech laboratories, AstraZeneca's “does not require any special provision,” recalls Carine Wolf-Thal.
“It is a classic vaccine, which is injected intramuscularly, like the flu.
"And then" we will be organized, "adds Gilles Bonnefond, from the USPO.
“We will have a list of questions to ask.
If the person has a history of allergies, or is unsure of themselves, then they will be referred to their doctor.
It's legitimate, we do not take any risk, ”explains the trade unionist, who also emphasizes the role of the pharmacist in vaccination coverage against influenza: 3.5 million people vaccinated in four weeks.
“We have know-how,” breathes Philippe Besset.
How will the vaccination campaign unfold in the medical deserts, these areas "where the few doctors are overworked"? asks Carine Wolf-Thal. "Will the inhabitants travel dozens and dozens of kilometers to reach a vaccination center?" While 97% of French people live within ten minutes by car of a pharmacy? Since the start of the crisis, our profession has been there. I do not understand why the government does not rely more on this resource, ”laments the president of the National Council of the Order of Pharmacists.