with the end of the vaccination pass, the vaccination centers begin to close their doors

Most of the chairs are empty in this gymnasium in Issy-les-Moulineaux, on the outskirts of Paris. There are very few candidates for vaccination in front of the boxes. It must be said that 80.5% of the French population has received at least one injection, and 79.1% have a complete vaccination schedule. Catherine Rigal, the centre’s nurse coordinator, explains: “We have a drop, especially because a lot of people have had the Covid. And since an infection equals an injection, their third dose skipped.”

“We have chosen to reduce openings to one day a week. We will close permanently on March 14.”

Catherine Rigal, nurse

at franceinfo

On March 10, 80 injections were administered. A sharp drop compared to December: at the time, these centers carried out up to 460 per day. In France, only 30,000 injections were performed on Tuesday March 8, and 37,500 on Wednesday March 9.

The patients who still come to be vaccinated are mainly children and adolescents. “I think it’s important for us to go beyond the Covid and for the pandemic to stop” How Adèle, 16, came with her grandmother. There are also latecomers, like Nadine. “I had living conditions that did not expose me” she specifies. Opposed to the vaccination pass which will be abolished on Monday March 14, she feels a little against the grain: “I took advantage of being infected at the end of the year, at the beginning of January, to complete my vaccination schedule. But I will have to go abroad, to a country requiring a complete vaccination schedule.“

This closure causes a little pang in the heart for Catherine and Patricia, nurses. “Everybody’s sad it’s over admits Patricia. But hey, that’s fine. We did our job, people are vaccinated.“His colleague thinks of returning to the classic circuit of a nurse:”It’s a page that turns, but maybe that will reopen“, she warns.

Even if the Regional Health Agencies (ARS) will close many vaccination centers, in the coming weeks, the Ministry of Health ensures that they will reopen quickly in the event of an epidemic resumption. The health authorities are now focusing on vaccination in the city, in particular with Novavax, which will be available in pharmacies at the end of the month.