Information and organization deadlines, limited supply ... Company vaccination against Covid-19 began on Thursday in slow motion, according to workers in the occupational health services.
For the moment, it is employees aged 50 to 64 with co-morbidities (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, cancers, etc.) who are concerned.
They are given the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Read also: Covid-19: should the whole planet be vaccinated to prevent the spread of variants?
This vaccination is done on a voluntary basis.
Occupational physicians, informed on February 16 of the protocol to be followed, must inform all the employees in their care, without targeting the people concerned, including those placed in partial activity or telework, and obtain the prior consent of those who wish to be vaccinated.
Vaccination is subject to medical secrecy and confidentiality vis-à-vis the employer.
"
300 independent occupational physicians (internal to the company) or inter-company occupational health services (the most numerous) out of a little more than 4000 in total in France have asked to be vaccinated next week and reserved the vaccines with dispensing pharmacies, against a hundred this week,
"Laurent Pietraszewski, the Secretary of State for occupational health, told AFP on Friday.
It is “
the phase of setting up the device.
Doctors must inform, organize appointments and order from pharmacies, they do not have the doses until the following week
", explains the Secretary of State, which denies any"
supply problem in the context of protocol
", while conceding" to
remain in a general context of limited number of available doses
".
One to three vials maximum
Several occupational health service physicians, however, indicated that they had to delay the vaccination because they could not get hold of the vaccines.
“
We had to vaccinate our first patients on Tuesday March 2, it is postponed to March 9.
We have contacted many pharmacies, but none could guarantee us the vaccine doses for next Monday
, ”explains Denys Brunel, president of SEST (Business Service for Occupational Health) in Issy-les-Moulineaux.
Dr Vinh Ngo, director general of the CIAMT occupational health center (inter-company and artisanal occupational health center), deplores "
a big logistical problem between the volunteer doctor, the pharmacist who makes his request, and the available doses.
".
According to him, "
some pharmacies manage to obtain doses, others not, it is a nebula
".
Read also: The AstraZeneca vaccine would be very effective in the elderly
Shortage requires, whatever the demand, the occupational physician cannot order doses according to his real needs.
The protocol of the medical labor inspectorate provides for allocating a single vial, comprising ten doses, during the first delivery (week of February 22), and 2 or 3 vials maximum for the second (week of March 1).