Covid in France: will vaccination soon be compulsory for caregivers?
In France, the executive relies on vaccination and does not rule out making it compulsory for nursing staff.
© Christophe SIMON / AFP
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5 mins
In France, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health solemnly called on healthcare workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
They do not exclude the possibility of making it compulsory.
Only one in three caregivers is vaccinated against the coronavirus.
An attitude that could compromise the fight against the virus, worries the government.
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With 40% of caregivers vaccinated in nursing homes and 30% of all caregivers and facing the risk of infection in hospital, Olivier Véran called on them, in a letter, to be vaccinated "
quickly
" on behalf of the "
Collective security
".
The vaccination of caregivers is justified by nosocomial infections with Covid-19 identified in health establishments, estimates a patient association specializing in this type of infections.
"
Today, the refusal of the Covid-19 vaccine by healthcare professionals is a breach of ethics and their ethical obligation, which is not to expose others to a risk that can be avoided
", notes Friday l association Le Lien in a press release.
The patient advocacy association demands to make the vaccination of nursing staff compulsory and considers
the insufficient vaccination coverage of nursing
staff "
unacceptable
".
Before the launch of the vaccination, the nosocomial risk was difficult to avoid, but not anymore, she emphasizes.
The French public health agency (SpF) identified 44,401 cases of nosocomial Covid between January 2020 and February 14, 2021, of which 26,839 were patients and 17,552 health professionals, in around 1,000 health establishments.
Knowing that France has more than 3,000 health establishments, Le Lien expects at least three times more cases than the figure recorded by the health agency, taking into account under-reports.
"
The establishments that report are generally the best in terms of the fight against nosocomial infections
."
"
So by taking the figures of the 1,000 establishments that have reported and multiplying them by 3, we are in the low range of truth,
" maintains the association Le Lien.
"
With 130,000 nosocomial infections with Covid-19 in France in 2020, the vaccination of healthcare professionals is no longer an option"
, reaffirms the association.
A calculation that the health agency SpF refutes, refusing to extrapolate these data to all health establishments.
Caregivers shun the vaccine
Catherine Kirnidis is president of Sniil (National Union of Liberal Nurses).
According to her, making vaccination compulsory for healthcare workers is not the right strategy.
In terms of image vis-à-vis caregivers who have been on the bridge for a year, I'm not sure that's the best strategy.
Catherine Kirnidis, President of Sniil (National Union of Liberal Nurses)
(With
AFP
)
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