Illustration of a syringe that can be used for vaccination.
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RAPHAEL BLOCH
Since Monday, caregivers aged 50 and over can now be vaccinated against Covid-19 in France.
Among health professionals, several voices are now being raised to make compulsory the vaccination of all nursing staff in France.
“Caregivers, by being vaccinated, set an example and create a ripple effect,” explains Dr. François Bourdillon, a public health specialist, who in 2016 created the Public Health France agency.
“Amplify, accelerate, simplify.
Criticized on the slowness of the start of the vaccination campaign in France, the government is now seeking to accelerate the pace of vaccinations against Covid-19.
"We exceeded 2,000 vaccinations yesterday, by Thursday we will increase again very significantly, we will be on an exponential curve," the Minister of Health Olivier Véran promised on Tuesday, indicating that he had authorized the vaccination "to all city and hospital health professionals, firefighters and home helpers over 50 ”.
During a trip this Tuesday to Tours, the Head of State also specified that all caregivers who so wish could be vaccinated during the first phase, which will last until the end of March.
But today, among health professionals, several voices are raised to make the vaccination of all caregivers compulsory.
Is this technically possible today?
20 Minutes
takes stock with Dr François Bourdillon, public health specialist, who in 2016 created the Public Health France agency, the national public health agency, of which he was the Director General until 2019.
"Caregivers set an example and create a ripple effect"
Most countries vaccinate their health professionals, and there is even an international consensus today on this subject.
For Dr François Bourdillon, there are many reasons: "It is about protecting caregivers, preserving the care tool, avoiding nosocomial transmission and above all, most importantly, creating an example.
Caregivers, by being vaccinated, set an example and create a ripple effect, ”says the doctor specializing in public health.
“There are two categories of people who can show the way forward, they are the politicians - Joe Biden was publicly vaccinated in the United States - and the nursing staff.
It is a very strong symbolism, if the doctors, who are scientists, get vaccinated, it will reassure a part of the population which is still very skeptical, ”he adds.
A point of view also defended by Daniel Guillerm, the president of the National Federation of Nurses (FNI) in a column published in December in the
Sunday Journal.
“Health professionals, just like those in education, social or justice, have a duty to set an example.
Especially in nursing homes where many residents say they do not want to be vaccinated ", explains the union official, who also puts forward as arguments to make the vaccine compulsory," the risk of criminal prosecution that caregivers could have to face, but also the application of the "precautionary principle" ”.
Open a debate
Many professionals - and politicians - would therefore now like to impose vaccination on all doctors, but also on all those who work in health establishments.
“It would also be good for nurses, caregivers, but also all the professionals who work in establishments for the elderly (Ehpad), up to the security guard.
If we adopt this logic, we would have to go to the end, ”said François Bourdillon.
A site that may be complicated, when we know that only 19% of nursing home care providers want to be vaccinated against Covid-19, according to an internal survey carried out in December by the Federation of hospitals and personal assistance establishments solidarity (Fehap).
This question, whether or not to make vaccination compulsory for all caregivers, is in any case "a fundamental subject today that deserves to be asked in the public sphere", adds the doctor specializing in public health.
“Many recommendations for making influenza vaccination compulsory have already been made in the past.
When we see the severity of the Covid-19 epidemic today, we can really wonder about making this vaccine mandatory today, ”adds the former director of Public Health France, who campaigns for the opening of a debate in France.
“It is important that this debate take place today because it is not only a question of individual protection, it is also and above all a question of protection of the population.
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Could we “technically” have all caregivers vaccinated?
On the contrary, some health professionals believe that it would be impossible to make the vaccine compulsory, for technical reasons.
This is the case of Professor Djillali Annane, head of the intensive care unit at the Raymond-Poincaré hospital in Garches, who says he is not in favor of an obligation for caregivers, in particular because "it would not be feasible" in practice.
“If you make something mandatory, you have to be able to provide the content.
However, we cannot today vaccinate a million health professionals in France, ”he explained on Tuesday on the set of BFMTV.
“This is probably one of the reasons why this debate was overlooked.
Today we do not have enough vaccines to make it compulsory for healthcare workers.
There is a real logistical problem at this level, ”also recognizes Dr François Bourdillon.
“That said, we could quite imagine doing it in an order established according to age, and according to the vulnerability of the pathologies and specialties worn by the caregivers,” he adds.
Be that as it may, making the vaccine compulsory for all members of the health workforce today could be interpreted, according to him, "as a bad signal sent to the entire population", which, let us remember, would only be 40% wanting to be vaccinated.
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