Illustration of a person getting a flu shot.

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Ludovic Marin / AFP

  • Brittany has the best flu vaccine coverage rate in France with a rate of 52.1%.

  • In the midst of the Covid-19 epidemic, the health authorities still want to do better and hope to vaccinate 75% of the population at risk.

  • Not necessarily exemplary, health professionals are also invited to get vaccinated.

In the midst of the coronavirus epidemic, it is in a very specific context that the annual influenza vaccination campaign began on October 13.

For health authorities, the issue is all the more crucial this year.

“Every winter, the flu already puts stress on the health system,” underlines Gaspard Lallich, deputy director of the Morbihan primary health insurance fund.

We must therefore do everything possible to avoid being confronted with a double epidemic wave and to preserve our hospital capacities ”.

If the barrier actions against Covid-19 should make it possible to slow down the flu a little, they will not be enough to fight against this virus responsible for around 10,000 deaths each year in France.

Hence the need for the most fragile people (people over 65 or suffering from chronic pathologies, pregnant women, etc.) to be vaccinated.

They have been identified to the number of 725,896 in Brittany, all having received a voucher for 100% care.

In this regard, the region is also a good student since it has the best vaccination coverage rate against influenza in France with a rate of 52.1%, against 47.8% nationally.

"But there are still efforts to be made to achieve the goal of 75% that we have set ourselves", concedes Gaspard Lallich.

"No stock" to vaccinate everyone

To do this, the authorities keep repeating the same prevention message every year.

A message that seems to find a particular resonance in these times of Covid-19.

“The vaccination campaign got off to a strong start,” underlines Anne Le Bris, midwife in Breteil near Rennes and deputy secretary of the Regional Union of Health Professionals (URPS).

We really feel that patients are motivated to get vaccinated this year ”.

Faced with this enthusiasm, the authorities are also warning.

“There is no stock to vaccinate the entire French population, warns Gaspard Lallich.

For the moment, priority is really given to people at risk ”.

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The shoemaker's syndrome for healthcare professionals

They know better than anyone the importance of getting a flu shot.

But professionals are not exemplary in this area.

Less than one in two is vaccinated against influenza each year, with very strong disparities depending on the profession.

In Brittany, around 70% of general practitioners are vaccinated in this way.

But the rate drops to 37% for nurses and even to 14% for specialist doctors.

"It is progressing every year but we are not exemplary", assures Olivier Dartois, physiotherapist and president of URPS.

  • Coronavirus

  • Covid 19

  • Vaccine

  • Vaccination

  • Influenza

  • Health