No panic but a strong desire to be vaccinated: a pharmacy in Lille began on Wednesday August 10 to administer the vaccine against monkeypox, like four other pharmacies in France.
As part of a two-week experiment, five pharmacies, in Ile-de-France, PACA and Hauts-de-France, can perform these injections against monkeypox.
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Easily accessible, close to train stations, the Lille pharmacy selected "
was also chosen because we are already monitoring patients on HIV treatment or preventive treatment
'
PrEP
'
, which somewhat corresponds to the target of this vaccination campaign
", explains the pharmacist Fabien Florack.
Patrick (an assumed name), 45, is one of the very first vaccinated on the spot, who succeeded each other every 10 minutes.
Saturday, he had given up in front of the long wait in a vaccination center, before managing to make an appointment on Doctolib for this vaccination in a pharmacy.
"
Contaminations go super fast, even if we don't behave too much at risk
", notes this homosexual man.
According to him, "
in the gay community, there is a reality of easy dating
”.
Although this disease does not arouse “
enormous anxiety
” among homosexuals, “
everyone decided to go get vaccinated all at once
,” he explains.
Three of his friends are currently infected and another has been hospitalized for 10 days.
The pharmacy has opened 130 slots for this week, which have all found takers quickly, and is preparing to open 200 for next week.
“
Today there is no shortage of doses but the idea is to match the number of doses supplied with those administered
”, insists Fabien Florack.
The vaccine can be stored at -80°C and only 14 days after thawing.
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In the queue, several people residing in Belgium, like Nicolas, 44-year-old Frenchman, homosexual, who deplores “
much more restrictive vaccination conditions
” on the other side of the border.
"
Beyond my private life, I am a teacher and at the start of the school year, every day I will be in contact with young people, I do not want to pass on (the disease) to them,
" he explains.
Came without an appointment, he was referred to a vaccination center.
Three months into the outbreak, nearly 28,000 cases of monkeypox are confirmed worldwide and deaths are beginning to be reported.
The majority of sufferers in Europe so far are men who have sex with men, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
