For 18-64 people who had their last dose of vaccine before June 17, the clock is ticking. From January 15, their health pass will be deactivated if they do not have a complete vaccination schedule, that is to say the three doses of vaccine against the covid.
Yet for 18-30 year olds, getting their booster dose is often an obstacle course. “I looked but I still did not find a vaccination window before March” says Lucas, 21, where Jules waiting for the result of his PCR test in front of a pharmacy in Bordeaux: “I can’t find anything other than vaccination slots at Moderna.” The problem is that he cannot be vaccinated with this vaccine because he is less than 30 years old. For him and for all 18-30 year olds, it’s Pfizer or nothing.
And that’s where it gets stuck. While Moderna can only be given to people over 30 years of age, the Pfizer vaccine is available to everyone. Ultimately, it is the 18-30 year olds who drink since there are not enough doses of Pfizer at most pharmacies or town doctors for their age group.
Delivery once a week
So, to try to meet the expectations of all patients, some pharmacies have opted to de facto reserve doses of Pfizer for those under 30 years of age. Others have to cancel their appointment while waiting for doses.
“We just don’t have enough doses available” explains Thierry Guillaume, President of the Chambre Syndicale des Pharmaciens de la Gironde. He explains that a pharmacist or a town doctor is only endowed by the Regional Health Agency with two vials of Pfizer per week “which is too little to vaccinate everyone”. With two vials, these health professionals can only vaccinatea dozen people. Too low a yield in view of the success of the third dose with 18-30 year olds.
To compensate for the lack of doses of Pfizer, Thierry Guillaume calls on the Regional Health Agency to do better, to supply pharmacies and general practitioners faster and prevent 18-30s without a third dose, seeing their health pass deactivated at 15 next january.