Some new coronavirus vaccines are difficult to store for a long period of time when opened, and in some cases they have to be destroyed if reservations are canceled one after another.
In France, where vaccination began last December, efforts are being made to avoid wasting excess vaccine.
This is a commentary by Akiko Koyama, Directorate General of Europe, who continues to cover in Paris.
How far has the French vaccination progressed?
(Reporter) In
France, vaccination began in December last year, and more than 45% of the population has completed the first vaccination.
From May 31st, all citizens aged 18 and over will be vaccinated, and from June 15th, 12 to 17 years old will also be vaccinated.
French vaccination How?
(Reporter) In
principle, reservations are required.
Therefore, it is said that there are a certain number of people in France who cancel their reservations due to inconvenience on the day.
On the other hand, some new coronavirus vaccines are difficult to store for a long period of time when opened, and if canceled one after another, the vaccine will be left over and must be discarded.
What are you doing to avoid wasting the excess vaccine?
(Reporter)
Initially, the French government instructed the person in charge of the vaccination site to use up everything without wasting the vaccine.
In response to this, at each venue, if there is a surplus vaccine, people who have not made a reservation will also be vaccinated.
Then, people who did not make a reservation started to wait for cancellation at the venue, causing confusion at the site.
The vaccine was running out for those who wanted it.
In fact, when I interviewed the venue around mid-April, it was not uncommon for people to wait for hours due to waiting in line, and some of the people who could not receive the vaccination cried. There were also people who started to cry.
This photo shows people lining up in front of the vaccination site in a hospital in Paris in search of surplus vaccine.
What are your efforts to avoid confusion at the inoculation site?
(Reporter)
To avoid confusion at the vaccination site, the government announced in May that all citizens over the age of 18 could make reservations online only if there was a vacancy on the day and the next day. It was.
France originally has a site where you can check the availability of medical examinations at most medical institutions across the country.
It is very convenient because I can search by various conditions such as the medical institution closest to my place and the medical institution where I can make a reservation in the shortest time, and I have been using it on a daily basis since I started living in Paris.
You can now use this site to make reservations waiting for cancellation.
This is the screen of the site.
The "Same day" and "Next day" buttons are green, indicating that you can make a reservation now.
Reservation site Specifically, how do you use it?
(Reporter) From
May, the button "Non-priority citizens aged 18 to 49 (* meaning no underlying illness, not medical staff, etc.)" has been displayed on this site. It was.
Clicking on it will now show venues with open reservation slots in and around your area.
For the first few days, there was a flood of applicants, and even if there was a vacancy, it would fill up after a few seconds, but after a week, it became relatively possible to make reservations.
In other words, with the introduction of this site, it has become possible to smoothly match surplus vaccines with applicants.
Did the introduction of the site reduce the waste of surplus vaccines?
(Reporter)
Of those who were waiting for cancellation in the first week, 240,000 were able to receive the vaccine.
The French government says it was able to significantly reduce the disposal of surplus vaccines and then promote vaccination to the younger generation to be vaccinated.
New reservation site One after another by young engineers
(Reporter)
Young engineers are also moving to launch a new reservation site.
In France, vaccinations are also available at pharmacies, but a site called "Covidliste" matches pharmacies with those who want to get vaccinated.
In just three months after the site was launched in March, more than 1.4 million people registered, including more than 3,700 pharmacies, and it quickly became a site widely used by citizens.
In addition, a site called "ViteMaDose", which was launched in April, shows which types of vaccines are available near your location and allows you to make reservations.
Both are sites launched by young engineers.
The government has also recommended that vaccine reservations be made through these sites, and it is now known and utilized by many people, especially the younger generation.
In France, it is very impressive to actively use the Internet to connect with vaccination applicants so as not to waste the surplus vaccine.