Two months of controversy, delayed deliveries, categories that became priorities earlier than expected… and nearly three million people vaccinated.
Or at least, partially for some of them.
2,808,490 inhabitants precisely received at least one dose of vaccine against Covid-19 as of February 25 and 1,490,083 have already received the second dose, according to the latest data from Public Health France.
The three vaccines currently used (Pfizer / BioNTech, AstraZeneca / Oxford and Moderna) work on a two-dose schedule, but the High Authority for Health recommends only one for people who have already been infected.
On December 27, Mauricette was the first French woman to receive an injection of the Pfizer / BioNTech product.
Two months later to the day, it is an opportunity to take stock of the progress of the vaccination campaign and the profile of people already "stung".
Slowness at startup
There was a lot of commentary back then, and the curves confirm it with hindsight.
France took ten days to really start its vaccination campaign.
As of January 4, fewer than 2,000 people had received a first dose, according to now consolidated data.
The pace has accelerated over the deliveries on French soil and, above all, the acceleration of the schedule.
Volunteer caregivers over 65 or those with comorbidities were able to benefit from it from January 4, then people over 75 from January 18, for example.
The arrival of AstraZeneca on February 6 then allowed the campaign to be extended to younger healthcare professionals.
In the meantime, the second injections started around January 20.
After several days of uncertainty and reflection, the time between the two doses of Pfizer vaccine was finally maintained at four weeks (three weeks for residents of nursing homes and long-term care units).
It is also 28 days for Moderna while the Haute Autorité de santé recommends between nine and twelve weeks for AstraZeneca.
Pfizer takes the biggest share
88.1% of people who received at least one dose were vaccinated with Pfizer / BioNTech, 5.4% with Moderna and 6.5% with AstraZeneca.
The American group and its German partner are therefore carving out the biggest part of the vaccination pie, and this should last for a long time.
"Pfizer will have, at least until June, a preponderant place", indicated the Ministry of Health Tuesday.
Moderna has been in use since Monday, January 11, but the number of doses delivered is much lower and only the regions most affected by the epidemic have been supplied initially.
As of February 25, just over 150,000 people have received the product from the US biotech, compared to nearly 2.5 million for Pfizer.
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Remains AstraZeneca, on which the authorities base a lot of hope but which is for the moment intended only for under 65 years.
Just over 180,000 people received a first dose in nearly three weeks, including more than 40,000 on Thursday alone.
It was on this day that the vaccination of 50-64 year olds was opened in medical practice, starting with those with comorbidities.
While this vaccine is still not validated for people aged 65 or older, things could change following the publication in Scotland of a study suggesting that it would be effective against severe forms, which whatever the age.
This could then benefit, in particular, 65-74 year olds.
The over 75 most massively vaccinated
The French strategy, and the government hammers it regularly, has been to vaccinate as a priority nursing home residents and the most vulnerable populations.
Logically, as of February 25, 40.3% of people vaccinated are at least 80 years old and nearly 60% are at least 75 years old.
This also explains why 60% of them are women, whose life expectancy is longer.
The female sex represents 61% of inhabitants aged 75 or over in France, according to INSEE.
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It is more interesting to report, for each age group, the number of vaccinated compared to the population.
Thus, 27.2% of people aged 80 and over received at least one dose of the vaccine and 14.2% received their second dose.
Taking advantage in particular of the arrival of the AstraZeneca vaccine, 55-59 year olds and 60-64 year olds have a vaccination coverage rate (at least one dose) of 4.2% each.
If we look at nursing home residents, Public Health France estimates that 81.9% of them received at least one dose and that 55.7% received two. All populations combined, also counting children and minors who are not - for the moment - concerned by vaccination, the coverage is 4.2% with at least one injection and 2.2% with both. The goal repeated by the government is that all French adults who so wish can be offered vaccination by the end of the summer.
