Paris (AFP)
The traditional vaccination campaign against seasonal influenza began Tuesday with a novelty: pharmacists can now perform injections throughout the territory.
Influenza vaccination is particularly recommended for people over 65, patients with certain chronic diseases (diabetes, heart or respiratory insufficiency ...), pregnant women and persons suffering from morbid obesity, people for whom the vaccine is reimbursed at 100%, said the Health Insurance.
All eligible adults, including those who are vaccinated for the first time, may withdraw the vaccine at the pharmacy "upon presentation of their health insurance voucher" and be vaccinated at the choice of a doctor , a nurse, a midwife but also a pharmacist.
Last year, pharmacists could only do so in four test regions (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Hauts-de-France, New Aquitaine, Occitanie).
On the other hand, pharmacists do not have the right to vaccinate minors.
The Health Insurance has also invited the liberal health professionals to be vaccinated, including general practitioners, nurses, midwives, pediatricians, pharmacists holding pharmacies, masseurs-physiotherapists, gynecologists and dentists.
"If the message is clear, it still does not seem to be heard enough because only 46.8% of people at risk were vaccinated last year, far from the national target of 75% vaccination coverage," commented the Order of Pharmacists on its website, estimating about 10 million the number of people invited each year to be vaccinated.
The vaccination campaign will end on January 31st.
The vaccine is directed against two influenza A viruses (one H1N1 and one H3N2) and two type B.
The seasonal flu epidemic of the winter of 2018-2019 resulted in lower mortality than the average of previous years, but still "significant" given its short duration, with about 8,100 deaths attributed to influenza, according to Public Health France.
It was also characterized by a high number of hospitalizations after emergencies for influenza-like illness (more than 10,000) and serious cases admitted to intensive care (more than 1,800).
© 2019 AFP