For a phenomenon which is measured "by dropper", according to the Ministry of Health, it is still a lot of drops: no less than 100,000 people under the age of 55 have received a first dose of AstraZeneca since on March 22, according to data from the Health Insurance that Le Parisien has peeled.
This is the first time that it is possible to put a figure on this phenomenon, well known but that we thought rather marginal.
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Admittedly, this number of 100,000 does not seem like much compared to the 3 million first-time vaccinated with “Astra” over this same period of almost three months.
But this is significant, when we know that this vaccine is no longer supposed to be used in these age groups since March 19, due to a benefit / risk ratio considered insufficient.
Just over 500,000 people under the age of 55 had received AstraZeneca previously.
"Responsibility of vaccinators"
As the health insurance data is weekly, we have chosen to start our analysis the week of March 22 to 28, during which 25,000 people passed "through" the cracks. This phenomenon continues, even if it diminishes over the weeks: from May 31 to June 6, nearly 2,000 people under the age of 55 received a first injection of AstraZeneca, against 3,000 the previous week. However, they were also eligible for Pfizer or Moderna, described as more effective and for which the difference between the two doses is “only” 6 weeks (12 weeks for “AZ”).
In detail, when we look at the proportion of under 55s vaccinated with AstraZeneca compared to all those who have received a first dose of vaccine since March 22, it varies according to the departments even if it remains low.
The Alpes-Maritimes are well ahead (2.4%), ahead of Saône-et-Loire and Alpes-Maritimes.
In some rural areas that are in the top 10, such as Nièvre, one of the explanations could be that pharmacies and doctors' offices only administered AstraZeneca until the beginning of June.
However, this is sometimes the only local place where it is possible to get vaccinated in this type of place.
"The vaccinations with AstraZeneca that could have taken place [in people under 55 years of age] are obviously dropper," therefore replied Tuesday, during a press briefing, the Ministry of Health.
Also contacted, the Health Insurance refers to "the responsibility of vaccinators who are health professionals, and who must know the recommendation on vaccination with AstraZeneca".
No relaxation in France
Several doctors and pharmacists openly admit having administered this product to inhabitants who are not yet eligible, flouting the official recommendations of the High Authority for Health and the government. “At the end of March, I gave a first injection to a couple aged 47-48 who could not get vaccinated elsewhere (because not eligible), who understood the risk and the expected benefit. And as the woman is of Italian origin, she wanted to see her family at the end of June for the first time in two years ”, testifies Michaël Rochoy, general practitioner in Villeneuve-d'Ascq (North).
"I think there is the ignorance (not to be neglected), the carelessness with people who must have been 54 years old and claiming the vaccine, and those who said to themselves that they could vaccinate with the agreement of the patient considering that the marketing authorization was valid from 18 years and that there was no international consensus on the minimum age for vaccination with AstraZeneca ”, enumerates his colleague Jonathan Favre.
In the UK, for example, this limit was eventually set at 30 years.
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On the other hand, contrary to what happened in Germany, no relaxation of the 55-year-old rule has been decided in France. Doctors and pharmacists who vaccinate young people with "AZ" therefore always do so outside the regulatory framework. At the risk, possibly, that these vaccinated will turn against them in the future and that they find themselves condemned.