Illustration of a covid 19 vaccination center in France.

-

ALLILI MOURAD / SIPA

  • Last week, the ARS of Ile-de-France announced that it would have to postpone thousands of appointments before going back.

  • The delays in vaccine delivery partly explain these difficulties.

  • In February, there will be twice as many second injection as the first. 

In the end, there will be no “postponement of the first injection appointment”.

Late Monday afternoon, the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency (ARS) announced that it had found a solution to maintain the pace of vaccination against Covid-19.

A few days earlier, she had yet announced to be forced to postpone between 15,000 and 20,000 meetings, especially the week of February 8.

What happened ?

Act I: Pfizer and AstraZeneca announce they will not meet their delivery deadline

The news has thrown a chill throughout the European Union: in early January, the German BioNTech and American laboratories Pfizer, which currently supply most of the vaccines, announce that they will not be able to meet their deadline in the first quarter due to work. in one of their factories in Belgium.

Since vaccines are ordered "in bulk" by the 27 countries before being distributed in proportion to the population, the whole Union is affected.

After tough negotiations, the laboratory finally indicated on Monday that it could honor its order and promised an increase in the rate in mid-February.

But in the meantime, it's another laboratory, AstraZeneca, which has announced that it will ultimately only deliver 25% of the 100 million doses promised in the first quarter.

Act II: Local repercussions

At the local level, these delays have significant repercussions on the vaccination schedule: the doses being delivered over the water, the rhythm of the injections is established accordingly.

When the appointments were opened, the delays had not been announced.

Another element to take into account: the injection time between the two doses.

Should we follow Pfizer's recommendations and leave between 21 and 28 days between the two injunctions to ensure better protection or to favor a mass primary vaccination even if it means losing part of the effectiveness of the vaccine, like this? is done for example in Great Britain?

After some procrastination, France decided to follow Pfizer's recommendations.

It is these two elements, which pushed the Regional Health Agency to announce on January 28 the postponement of 15,000 to 20,000 appointments in order to ensure the second injection.

The main difficulties in the region are concentrated in the week of February 8: that week, nearly 51,000 second injections must be made, especially with health personnel.

However, with the delivery delays announced, the region only had 75,000 doses in total.

“The volume available for the first injections should be around 25,000 in outpatient centers in the region.

»Against nearly double this week of February 1.

Act III: Moderna, the lifeline

Three days after these announcements, the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency finally announced that it would be able to provide all primary vaccinations thanks to the mobilization of a third vaccine, Moderna, until here mainly used in so-called "pivot" health establishments, which generally accommodate the elderly.

"The mobilization of 20,000 doses of Moderna vaccine which will be concentrated over this week and the work undertaken to ensure the reliability, center by center, of all the data and to ensure the exact number of new injections required, have made it possible to push back this risk [ of postponement] ”, indicated Monday evening the ARS in a press release.

Thus, the 30,000 first injection appointments made that week in the region will be honored.

On the other hand, the ARS indicates that certain second injection appointments will be postponed by one week.

Epilogue: Few first injections at the end of the month

Despite the mobilization of these doses of vaccine the week of the 8th, few first injections are planned for the end of February: 10,000 the week of February 15 - for which the appointment was opened on Tuesday - and 20,000 the last week.

In its first press release, the ARS was counting on 45,000 first-time injections that week.

On the other hand, 120,000 second injections will be carried out in the last two weeks of February.

Health

Vaccination: The European Union will turn much more to AstraZeneca's competitors

Society

Vaccination in Ile-de-France: There will ultimately be no postponement of appointment

  • Covid 19

  • Anti-covid vaccine

  • Coronavirus

  • Society

  • Paris