A vial containing doses of Moderna vaccine (illustrative image).

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Charlie Riedel / AP / SIPA

  • Approved in mid-January by the European Union, the Moderna vaccine is one of the four authorized in France against Covid-19.

    As of April 5, 880,502 doses of this vaccine had been injected into the country.

  • Moderna is similar to that of Pfizer in the technique used and the rate of effectiveness, but the doses are much less numerous.

  • While the vaccination will accelerate in the coming weeks, some patients seem more reluctant to deal with the serum developed by the American firm.

After AstraZeneca, is the Moderna vaccine also shunned by the French?

While the Stade de France vaccinodrome in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) opened its doors on Tuesday, the slots with Pfizer / BioNTech have been taken by storm for several days already.

On the other hand, for Moderna, several hundred appointments remained available on Doctolib.fr, reported our colleagues from Le

Parisien on

Monday.

"Without being able to explain it, Moderna clearly has a popularity deficit", confided to our colleagues Katy Bontinck, first assistant to the mayor of Saint-Denis in charge of Health.

Lack of knowledge of the vaccine, fewer doses, amalgamation with AstraZeneca, messenger RNA technique… Several reasons seem to explain the unpopularity of the American firm's vaccine.

Less doses

Is the Stade de France vaccinodrome an exception?

Not really.

Monday evening on BFMTV, Frédéric Adnet, head of the SAMU-SMUR emergency department at the Avicenne hospital in Bobigny, also affirmed that he had observed "a reluctance for the Moderna vaccine" in his vaccination center.

However, between Pfizer and Moderna, few differences: the two sera use the same messenger RNA technology and display very similar efficacy rates against Covid-19 - 94% for Moderna and 95% for Pfizer - , as well as good protection against variants.

Since the two vaccines are very similar, why is Moderna less popular?

In the first place, because it is less well known.

Approved only three weeks after that of Pfizer / BioNTech, it did not benefit from the same publicity campaign: “The one of Pfizer was the first to be approved, the first to be delivered, it was very publicized, people have had a lot of information on it.

Moderna has fallen through the cracks a bit, ”explains Michaël Rochoy, general practitioner and epidemiology researcher.

If the media coverage was less important, it is also the case of word of mouth.

With nearly 880,000 doses injected on April 5, according to the Covidtracker site, Moderna is far from Pfizer's figures (more than 9 million).

"The majority of patients who have been vaccinated have received Pfizer, so mechanically there are more people who recommend it", recognizes Michaël Rochoy.

"The Moderna arrived after the Pfizer, was less publicized, there are much less doses in France available, confirms the doctor Jacques Battistoni, president of the

general practitioner union (MG France).

And in addition, since it is a messenger RNA vaccine, it requires special storage conditions which mean that doctors cannot inject it.

For the moment, it is reserved for hospitals and vaccination centers ”,

An amalgamation with AstraZeneca?

For some specialists, the Moderna vaccine could also be a collateral victim of the concerns surrounding the AstraZeneca, suspended in several European countries in mid-March.

After several cases of blood clots reported in patients vaccinated with Swedish-British serum, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has launched an investigation.

And on Wednesday, she said blood clots should be listed as a "very rare" side effect of AstraZeneca, while believing that the benefits outweigh the risks.

In France, since the start of vaccination in mid-January, "twelve cases, including four deaths in total", of these rare thromboses have occurred, said the Medicines Agency (ANSM) last week.

Would the general public make the amalgamation between Moderna and AstraZeneca?

“The ARS (the regional health agency) tells us that Moderna also finishes in A, like AstraZeneca… It can be played out in very few things but what is certain is that the choice of vaccine seems very important to people. public eyes, ”Katy Bontinck said in the pages of Le

Parisien

.

"It is certainly the concerns around the AstraZeneca vaccine that have launched this mistrust", recognizes Jacques Battistoni.

Yet the Moderna vaccine faced no concerns about possible serious side effects.

For Michaël Rochoy, "more than mistrust, it is rather ignorance" which would explain the unpopularity of Moderna.

But the situation could quickly change.

From mid-April, the Moderna vaccine will be produced in Monts, in Indre-et-Loire, by the company Recipharm, making it possible to increase the number of doses.

As for its distribution, it could also expand.

Two unions, one of general practitioners (MG France), the other of dispensing pharmacists (FSPF), asked the government last week to give them access to unused vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. in town at the moment.

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