Vaccination in the state of Oregon, United States.
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NATHAN HOWARD / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP
It is now confirmed: if the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech is authorized as planned by the European Medicines Agency, the vaccination campaign will begin on December 27 throughout the European Union.
There are only ten days left, but the time is reasonable, as the vaccination will only affect a few thousand people before the end of the year on the continent.
A symbol ?
Yes, but not only: every week counts on an individual level.
The vaccine Christmas will fall this year on December 27.
It is on this usually calm date of "between Christmas and New Year's Day" that the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 will begin.
In France, but more widely throughout the European Union, as indicated by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, this Thursday morning.
Why was this date chosen?
Is it credible to start "so quickly"?
20 Minutes
gives you some answers.
Why start on December 27?
Because the European Medicines Agency will examine the application for authorization of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNtech on December 21.
This decision will be authoritative in the twenty-seven member countries of the Union.
It's a week ahead of schedule, with Germany pushing hard.
Reckless?
Not really for Anne Sénéquier, co-director of the Global Health Observatory, interviewed by
20 Minutes
: “We are still talking about a vaccine that has already been validated by several agencies worldwide.
It is very likely that the European Medicines Agency will validate it in the same way.
The date of December 27 therefore seems rather relevant, at least politically.
We are already vaccinating not so far away: in the United Kingdom, fresh out of the European Union.
"No doubt the local drug agency has benefited from less administrative red tape, but as the European Union has centralized vaccine purchases, the British have no doubt paid much more for their doses," says Anne Sénéquier.
From a logistical point of view, is it credible to start on December 27?
On paper, the specialists interviewed by
20 Minutes
tend to agree: yes it is possible.
"But that depends on what we mean by" credible ", moderates Eric Billy, researcher, of the collective On the side of science.
“If we mean by that that we want to vaccinate a few hundred or a few thousand people from December 27, that's credible.
In the large Parisian hospitals there will be no problem to vaccinate eligible caregivers and fragile patients.
"
The same in nursing homes: “It's a little simpler, because there is a limited number of establishments in the territory.
But the question of obtaining consent for certain patients suffering from cognitive disorders arises, and the impact that this can have on antivaccines, ”warns Michaël Rochoy, general practitioner, also a member of Du Côté de la science.
But this must be organized now to be ready on December 27.
If, on paper, everything is settled, in fact… “In Europe, everyone is more or less in agreement on the strategy.
That is the bottom.
On the form, it's different, notes Eric Billy.
In Germany, the vaccinodromes have already done tests, with us it remains theoretical.
"We have not seen any communication on a particular French logistics preparation", abounds Anne Sénéquier.
Because the logistical challenge of this vaccination campaign lies in the storage of the doses at -70 ° C, the transport under such conditions and the follow-up: there are two injections to be made twenty-one days apart, and each vial contains five doses of vaccine.
“If in the next ten days, suddenly in France the health authorities manage to present us with a tracing method, no problem, it won't be a big concern in itself, it's quite simple.
But will these doses remain in storage for a long time if we have not managed to find enough people to vaccinate at the end of December?
“Asks Eric Billy.
Starting before the end of the year, a question of communication?
We are not going to vaccinate millions more people by having won a week on the decision of the European Medicines Agency, we understand that.
So there is a question of communication and symbol.
But after all, why not ?
In any case, it does not shock Michaël Rochoy, quite the contrary: "Starting the vaccinations the same year when we had the first cases of a new disease in France, it's a sacred message of hope, I think".
Same story with Anne Sénéquier: “It's a way of saying that we are starting 2021 under new auspices.
The European Union is sending a message to the people, and a message internationally to show that Europe knows how to coordinate and move forward together.
"
If we stick only to the figures, this symbol is negligible on the scale of some 500 million Europeans, even that of the 67 million French men and women.
In contrast, at the individual level, winning a week may not be minor.
“If we vaccinate caregivers, it can have an impact that is not insignificant, thinks Eric Billy.
To vaccinate them is to consolidate the health system.
It may also not be trivial in nursing homes ”, where the stories of dramatic clusters followed one another in the spring.
"But you have to be able to do it," he repeats, recalling that the vaccine is most often effective only seven days after the second dose.
It's long.
So take a step ahead of an epidemic that has left us so far behind, "it's already taken", concludes Eric Billy.
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