A patient receives a dose of a vaccine against Covid-19, in Strasbourg on January 4, 2021. -

Jean-Francois Badias / AP / SIPA

  • Until now, vaccination was reserved for residents of nursing homes and caregivers of these establishments.

  • From this Monday, vaccination is now available to over 75s not living in retirement homes and to people with "high risk" pathologies. 

  • "20 Minutes" answers your questions about the vaccination of people known as "at risk".

After the residents of nursing homes and their caregivers, there is room for seniors over 75 but also for people with “high risk” pathologies.

From this Monday, vaccination against the coronavirus is expanding in France, with 6.4 million people called to be vaccinated.

While it is fairly easy to identify people over 75, it is less clear who is considered “at risk”.

Who is concerned ?

How is the vaccination carried out? 

20 Minutes

answers all the questions you have about the vaccination campaign for the most vulnerable people.

Who is concerned ?

Nearly 800,000 people

"Suffering from particularly serious diseases", known as "at risk", can be vaccinated as of Monday, indicated the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, Thursday during his press conference.

In detail, these are people with cancer and malignant haematological diseases undergoing treatment with chemotherapy;

people with severe chronic kidney disease (including dialysis patients);

people with solid organ transplants, transplanted by allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation;

people with chronic polypathologies and with at least two organ failure;

people with certain rare diseases and particularly at risk in the event of infection; and people with trisomy 21. The complete list of diseases is available on the website of the Ministry of Health.

“The people targeted are those who present more risks”, explains Michaël Rochoy, general practitioner, epidemiology researcher and member of the “On the side of science” collective.

For the specialist, the list is not necessarily ideal: "A 55-year-old teacher, obese, asthmatic, who works in contact with children is more at risk than a transplanted person who stays at home," says the doctor. , which pleads for the creation of an individual score per patient according to age, weight, pathology or profession.

“It would classify people in order of prioritization.

"For people with disabilities," an Easy To Read and Understand (FALC) sheet "is available on the website of the Secretary of State to" facilitate understanding of the vaccination process and allow everyone to be properly informed " , said Secretary of State Sophie Cluzel on Thursday.

How to make an appointment?

To be vaccinated, you must make an appointment at a vaccination center.

As for people over 75, the appointment can be made by Internet or by telephone.

People "at risk" can call the toll free number 0800 009 110, open 7 days a week, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Appointments can also be made online on the Santé.fr site or on one of the three private platforms chosen by the government: Doctolib, Maiia and Keldoc.

However, according to the doctor, this device can pose a problem for some people: "For people with disabilities or those who are very dependent, you need the help of the attending physician, caregiver or even the family to make an appointment. -you ”, recommends Michaël Rochoy.

If Olivier Véran indicated on Thursday that people at risk had to present a prescription from their attending physician to make an appointment at a vaccination center, Michaël Rochoy believes that it is simply "a recommendation".

"Having a prescription from your doctor is better, it means that we have carried out the pre-vaccination consultation with a specialist who knows us, but it is not mandatory.

There are doctors in all the vaccination centers who can carry out this consultation if necessary, ”he reassures.

Is vaccination compulsory?

No, vaccination is not compulsory, but it is free and strongly recommended for people at risk, as for people over 75 years old.

For the general practitioner, the vaccine protects individually and limits the risks of transmission, but it also protects collectively: "People at risk are those who are most likely to be in intensive care and the priority is to fight against overloading health services, ”he explains.

For this category, sometimes isolated since the start of the epidemic, the vaccine "will be able to resume a slightly more normal life, to go out, to receive visits from loved ones with lower risks", adds Michaël Rochoy.

Appointment requests, opened on Friday, were marked by an influx, with more than a million appointments already made in the 833 centers "open and accessible for reservation", according to Olivier Véran.

But not all the seniors were able to register, generating some tension.

"There are not enough vaccines for everyone," said Jacques Battistoni, president of the MG France general practitioner union in the

Journal du Dimanche

.

Predicting "a false start" Monday, he criticizes the government for not launching a mass campaign, but "for organizing queues!"

".

Olivier Véran tried to reassure on Monday, ensuring that the milestone of one million French people vaccinated against Covid-19 would be "largely reached by the end of the month".

Politics

Coronavirus: The vaccine passport, a false good idea to counter the epidemic?

Health

Coronavirus: Delays in delivering Pfizer vaccine to Europe limited to one week?

  • Vaccine

  • Video

  • Covid 19

  • Coronavirus

  • Vaccination

  • Health