Monkey pox virus continues to spread in France with 2,889 cases identified. The Centre-Val de Loire region is not spared with 27 cases. And yet, in Indre-et-Loire, demand for vaccination has slowed.
For the moment, there are two vaccination centers in Tours. One at the CEGID (Centre for screening for HIV, hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections) in the city center, the other at the Bretonneau hospital, with the possibility of reserving a vaccination slot on the Doctolib site. For this week only forty appointments madewhile nearly a hundred doses were administered in Indre-et-Loire at the beginning of August. The vaccination offer has accelerated, it is now even too high relative to demand.
Involving pharmacies?
“We have much less waiting and patients scheduled for vaccination against monkeypox, than compared to vaccination against Covid-19. The population affected by monkeypox is not the same as for the Covid vaccination“explains Chantal, a nurse at the Bretonneau centre. Men who have sex with other men are the most affected by the smallpox epidemic.
Certainly, the target audience is smaller but for Doctor Maakaroun-Vermesse of the Tours CHRU, there is also a problem linked to the structures put in place in the department. “We should perhaps think about vaccinating closer to people, in pharmacies“. A way to avoid many inhabitants of Indre-et-Loire traveling to Tours. “In view of our experience, which remains short, the large vaccination centers that we set up with Covid-19 are not suitable for vaccination against monkeypox. she adds.
The Ministry of Health is currently conducting a vaccination experiment in several pharmacies in Île-de-France, Hauts-de-France and the PACA region.