Paris (AFP)

Routing, safety checks, recommendations for use: now that a first vaccine against Covid-19 has been authorized in the EU, what will happen in France before the first vaccinations on Sunday?

- At the regulatory level -

The marketing authorization granted on Monday by Brussels to the vaccine developed by the American Pfizer and the German BioNTech opens the doors to the 27 EU countries, but each state is master of its procedures.

In France, the High Authority for Health (HAS) is due to issue an opinion on this vaccine on Thursday, Christmas Eve, called Comirnaty in reference to the technology used (messenger RNA, mRNA in English).

It will say whether it "fits into the vaccination strategy as recommended" or "with what reserves".

The organization has already issued general recommendations on priority audiences and the organization of the campaign, but a specific opinion must be given for each vaccine, to take into account their characteristics (efficacy against transmission of the virus or only protection against the disease, risk profile, storage conditions, etc.).

- In terms of health safety -

As with all vaccines, an additional control step is carried out to guarantee the quality and safety of the doses, referred to as "batch release".

For the Comirnaty vaccine, these checks will be carried out by the laboratory of the German Paul-Ehrlich institute, which will issue a "certificate" valid "for all member countries of the EU," he said in a statement.

- Logistically -

Shipping of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine is complicated by the storage conditions of this product, which must be stored at "ultra-low temperature" (approximately -70 ° C).

The "logistics chain (...) is operational to start vaccination at the end of this week," government spokesman Gabriel Attal assured Monday.

"The vaccine will be supplied for Europe by the production sites of Pfizer in Belgium (Puurs) and BioNTech in Germany. (...) The doses will arrive by road for hexagonal France and by plane for the territories Overseas, "the American laboratory told AFP.

To facilitate transportation, the two manufacturers designed an insulated shipping container that "can maintain temperature for 10 days unopened" and "up to 30 days" by renewing the dry ice that fills it, Pfizer said.

“Each container contains a GPS thermal sensor that tracks the location and temperature of each vaccine shipment (...). Once thawed, the vaccine vial can be stored safely for up to 5 days in refrigeration conditions (at 2-8 ° C) ", adds the laboratory.

The doses will be transported to "a hundred sites with dedicated freezers, which will most of the time be hospital sites, at a rate of about one per department, in order to be able to vaccinate all the establishments (for the elderly) which are in link with these hospitals ", detailed Tuesday the Minister of Health Olivier Véran.

There will also be "six logistics platforms distributed homogeneously over the territory", warehouses "authorized for the storage of health products" whose list is "not made public at this stage", specifies the Ministry of Health.

These platforms will supply the nursing homes which usually get their supplies from hospital pharmacies which will not be equipped with "super-freezers".

Particular attention will be paid to the security of the convoys transporting the precious doses, the ministry also confirmed to AFP, citing "close" monitoring by the police.

- The first vaccinated in France -

The first vaccination campaign against Covid-19 will begin Sunday in France in "two or three" establishments for the elderly and will concern "a few dozen residents", announced Tuesday the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran.

An establishment will be "on the side of Paris", another in Bourgogne Franche-Comté "and then possibly a third which is under discussion," added the minister, guest of the 8:00 pm newspaper on TF1.

The spokesperson for Synerpa, a union for private retirement homes, had indicated a few hours earlier that the first injections would take place in "some voluntary establishments", "long-term care units in Ile-de-France, establishments public hospitals and perhaps some private establishments ".

The establishments must have obtained the consent of the patients or their entourage and organized a pre-vaccination medical consultation.

© 2020 AFP