Maximilien Carlier (in Lille), edited by Gauthier Delomez 07:20, August 10, 2022

Vaccination against monkeypox is being tested in pharmacies from Wednesday.

A total of five pharmacies are authorized to inject the vaccine.

Europe 1 went to Lille, where in a selected pharmacy, the 126 doses are ready to be injected this week.

It is a pharmacy located in the city center of Lille, opposite the two train stations, Lille-Flandres and Lille-Europe.

There are metro entrances close by, which makes this pharmacy very accessible.

"There is a lot of passage for sure, and we are also a pharmacy with an active line of fairly large target people, which accentuates this legitimacy", explains Fabien Florack, the director of the Grande Pharmacy Aprium.

Europe went to Lille, where this pharmacy is one of five authorized to inject the monkeypox vaccine.

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A target mainly present in the city center

The target for this vaccine, which are homosexual people or sex workers, is mainly present in the city.

This week, 126 injections are planned in a small room at the back of the Lille pharmacy, by appointment only.

The objective for this manager is to break in, to avoid queues, but there is also a logistical issue because these vaccines are kept at -80 degrees.

The pharmacy has its first doses of vaccine.


Credits: Maximilien Carlier/Europe 1

"From the moment the vaccines are thawed, they have a shelf life of 14 days, so lost doses must be avoided," he explains to Europe 1.

Why you have to go fast

Vaccinating as many people as possible quickly is the priority objective, as noted by Gregory Tempremant, president of the Regional Union of Pharmacist Health Professionals in Hauts-de-France.

"It's worrying, it's urgent," he said.

"We are also on the Belgian border. We know that there are festive events which concern the homosexual population which will take place soon. They may lead to an increase in the prevalence of monkey pox. We must move quickly in the vaccination."

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This experiment should last 15 days in the five test pharmacies, two of which are located in Paris, one in Fréjus, another in Marseille and therefore that of Lille.

Eventually, it should be extended to other pharmacies.