The government has ordered 200,000 doses of Beyfortus from the laboratory that produces them, but that is clearly not enough. Pharmacies cannot meet all the demand, and treatment will be given priority in maternity wards.
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The treatment against bronchiolitis in babies is a victim of its success: the immunization campaign for newborns started on September 15 and barely two weeks later, it is already almost impossible to find the treatment in pharmacies for infants under two months.
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The government has ordered 200,000 doses from the Sanofi laboratory which manufactures Beyfortus, but obviously there will not be enough for everyone. In maternity wards, 60 to 80% of parents said yes to injecting a dose of Beyfortus for their newborn. In town, pharmacies are unable to meet the demands of parents who come with a prescription.
No doses for children under 5 kg
“We were supposed to have deliveries between three to six days and so far we haven’t received anything, so we have a lot of mothers waiting”, explains Claude Péricaud, pharmacist in Bagneux, who placed her order a week ago. She adds that her pharmacy cannot “honor orders at all for children under 5 kg”.
The treatment “is mainly aimed at very newborns, premature babies”, explains Claude Péricaud. “Vaccination is now, not when they are one year old, epidemics start in the fall so babies need it now”deplores the pharmacist.
For babies under two months old, who weigh less than 5 kg, there are no doses available in pharmacies and there will be none since, given the success of the treatment, the government has decided to give the priority to maternity wards. Parents will therefore have to wait until their child weighs at least 5 kg to be able to benefit from the other version of Beyfortus, since these doses are intended for pharmacies.