Who can pharmacists sell the flu shot to?

A flu shot at Lehigh Valley Hospital in the United States on September 25.

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• The flu vaccination campaign has just started, in a context marked by the Covid-19 pandemic.

• The High Authority for Health and the Ministry of Health encourage pharmacists to prioritize the vaccination of people at risk first.

• People not appearing on this list are invited to be vaccinated from "early December".

Are pharmacists currently authorized to dispense influenza vaccine to people who are not considered to be at risk?

On social networks, Internet users argue, wrongly, that a "circular" would prohibit pharmacies from selling the vaccine to non-priority people.

takes stock of this statement.

FAKE OFF

Does such a circular exist?

No, answer

 Gilles Bonnefond, president of the Union of trade unions of dispensing pharmacists (USPO) and Philippe Besset, president of the Federation of pharmaceutical unions of France (FSPF).

“Does the prioritization go as far as prohibition?

This is not the case, ”says Gilles Bonnefond.

Pharmacists are in fact strongly encouraged to initially only deliver the vaccine to frail people.

"The High Authority for Health recommends, given the state of stocks and priorities, to prioritize vaccination for vulnerable people," recalls Philippe Besset.

This recommendation was followed by the Ministry of Health *, which invites you to postpone vaccination until "early December" if you are not one of the fragile people.

People considered to be at risk are those over 65, pregnant women, obese people, those around immunosuppressed people and infants under six months at risk of severe flu, as well as adults and children suffering from pathologies. chronic.

Health professionals are also encouraged to get vaccinated now.

On August 20, the Director General of Health had made the same recommendations to the order of pharmacists.

The objective is to obtain 75% vaccination coverage of these fragile populations, whereas "last year, the vaccination coverage rate of the population targeted by these recommendations was only 47.8%", recall the Ministry and Health Insurance.

This figure could be exceeded this year, according to the strong demand in pharmacies.

"Yesterday [Tuesday], it was a day of big vaccination, today too," says Gilles Bonnefond.

An observation also made by Philippe Besset.

To meet demand, the ministry ordered 30% more vaccine doses.

A "case by case" estimate

What if you are not on the list of people at risk and want to get the vaccine before December 1?

"It's all the joy and the beauty of medicine, we have to judge on a case-by-case basis," says Philippe Besset, who explains how to assess the situation of each non-at-risk person before delivering the vaccine.

Pharmacists, on the other hand, do not have the right to vaccinate adults who are not considered to be at risk, as they claim.

Their doctor should do the injection.

These people do not however represent the bulk of people who were vaccinated in previous years, nuance Gilles Bonnefond.

Only "10%" of those vaccinated came from this non-target population, he emphasizes.

* The Ministry of Health did not respond to our requests on this subject.

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