Figures that seem low at first glance. “Among those aged 65 and over, 19.8% had received a booster dose “ vaccine against Covid-19 on November 2, notes Public Health France in its epidemiological point, published Thursday, November 4. That’s barely one in five. A proportion that is close to 50% if we take into account the six-month delay between the complete vaccination and the booster dose.
If the government spokesman, Gabriel Attal, greeted, Friday, a “encouraging progress” of the vaccine booster campaign, the executive considers it still insufficient. So much so that Emmanuel Macron, who is to address the French on Tuesday at 8 p.m., could make announcements on this. This concerns in particular people over 65 years of age and those with co-morbidities at risk of serious forms, as recommended the Haute Autorité de santé on August 24. What explains this somewhat slow start of the booster dose? Response elements.
Because you have to wait six months after the second dose (with some exceptions)
First explanation: many people affected by this booster dose are not yet entitled to it, simply because it is too early. They must wait until six months have elapsed after the second injection of the vaccine to be able to benefit from the booster dose, which is often a third dose (except in the special cases of immunocompromised people, patients vaccinated with the Janssen single-dose vaccine or people considered vaccinated with a single dose because they had contracted Covid-19 previously).
However, it should be remembered that the vaccination campaign did not really accelerate until May-June. While the elderly were a priority, they could not all be fully vaccinated in the spring.
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As of May 1, 2021, only 37% of people aged 65 and over, or 5 million people, had in fact been fully vaccinated. It is this segment of the population, to which must be added patients with serious risk comorbidities, which is now affected by the booster dose. According to the Directorate General of Health, “As of November 3, 3.4 million people have recalled, or 48% of the population eligible for seven months.”
As for residents of Ehpad (accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people) or long-term care units, they were 51.4% to have received a booster dose on November 2, according to Public Health France.
Because the population is still waiting
Another factor that plays a role: although the number of contaminations is skyrocketing in several European countries, starting with Germany or Belgium, neighboring France, vaccinated citizens are not, or not yet, worried about the resumption of the epidemic. “A significant portion of the elderly or at risk have already taken their third dose but others are still waiting”, General practitioner Jacques Battistoni, also president of the MG France general practitioner union, told franceinfo.
“Some vaccinated patients feel that they do not need the booster too much for the moment. They are waiting for the day when there will be a significant rise in contamination, a higher incidence rate, and then they’ll come back soon. “
Jacques Battistoni, president of the union of general practitioners MG Franceto franceinfo
The general practitioner emphasizes that these patients do not have, a priori, strong reluctance against a booster dose, since they have already been vaccinated. But also reminds that there are still elderly people who have not received any dose of vaccine. Paradoxically, he emphasizes, “The over 80s are less vaccinated than the previous age group. They feel safe from harm because they self-confine.” Almost 93% of 65-74 year olds are fully vaccinated, compared to 89% of 75 and over. “They say to me: ‘But me, I run no risk, I do not see anybody’, which grips the heart. And this reasoning is hard to change.”
Because the information is not always well passed
Finally, as always, information only partially passes, despite the communication campaigns. “People wonder if they should do the third dose. But they also wonder about the time between the second and the third dose. They may not have remembered and understood the story of the drugs. six months”, report again Jacques Battistoni.
So that general practitioners can best advise their patients, Social Security will provide practitioners with a list of their patients with the date of their vaccination and the date when the booster dose becomes possible. “This is an Ameli service to general practitioners, which is in the test phase, being finalized, explains Jacques Battistoni. This list will allow us to call our patients when they are eligible for the third dose, and discuss it with them. ” While the number of vaccination centers is decreasing, general practitioners are indeed one of the main pivots of this recall campaign.
Social Security confirmed to franceinfo that it was working on this file, which will be made available to doctors. She also claims to have sent to “8.2 million people aged 65 and over, vaccinated or not, a letter or an e-mail in September”, to inform them of this booster dose to take, or to encourage them to be vaccinated if it has not yet been done.
In addition, she wrote to franceinfo, “pread 15 million flu vaccination coupons “ have been sent “to the people concerned, in particular the over 65s”. To these vouchers is attached a letter reminding that it is “quite possible” to receive the flu vaccine at the same time as the booster dose against Covid-19, in accordance with the recommendations of the High Authority for Health.