Launch of vaccination in pharmacies
Audio 02:34
Vaccination in Stains, in the Paris suburbs, on March 5.
(Illustrative photo) REUTERS - BENOIT TESSIER
By: Stéphane Geneste
6 mins
This Monday, March 15, 2021, the vaccination campaign in France takes a new course.
From now on, it is possible to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in pharmacies but the bites will be done under certain conditions.
They will be intended for people over 75 years old and 50 to 74 years old with comorbidity.
How were the pharmacies prepared and what do those concerned think?
Report.
Publicity
Behind one of the counters at the back of the pharmacy, Perle Miesen is busy.
For several days, patients who frequent the dispensary have been wondering about the conditions for getting vaccinated in this establishment in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.
"
Some are a little afraid so I will not force or encourage them if they do not feel it
", testifies this pharmacist.
The pharmacy must receive two vials of the Astra Zeneca vaccine which is equivalent to twenty doses and it is no longer possible to make an appointment.
“
I have already made some contacts with interested patients.
We will block twice two hours a week and we will summon people,
explains Perle Miesen.
I have created a list of people I know who have been patients for a long time at the pharmacy and I will prioritize them according to their ages and their pathologies.
"
The injections will be done in a small room in the back of the dispensary.
When you enter, two chairs face each other.
They are surrounded by shelves filled with medicines, compresses or other pharmaceutical products.
Everything is already planned, according to the pharmacist.
“
It's a place where you can isolate yourself with the patient.
It is also here that I practice serological and antigenic tests.
It will still take us 10 to 15 minutes.
The patient then remains under observation for about fifteen minutes to ensure that he does not develop side effects such as anaphylactic shock or a sudden allergic reaction.
For that we have to have adrenaline with us.
I hope I don't have to use it.
"
To be able to vaccinate, Perle Miesen had to follow a small online training course.
“
There is a little manipulation, you have to take it in a bottle.
It's quite laborious but it will take two minutes.
We had a lot of online meetings on all possible issues and they provide us with support and tutorials.
Basically it is true that it is more the competence of a nurse than of a pharmacist.
"
Something to delight Odile and Anne, two pharmacy patients who are impatiently awaiting their turn to be vaccinated.
“
At over 90 years old, I would like to be vaccinated but to have an appointment it is absolutely impossible,
affirms one of them.
It is true that we know our pharmacists well.
They already have the flu, they have mastered this subject.
“A vaccination that gives these two grandmothers hope to see better days and find a semblance of normal life.
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