Doctors angry at the reinstatement of caregivers not vaccinated against Covid-19

It is a change of strategy that annoys some doctors: since Thursday April 30, the High Authority for Health (HAS) has published a opinion in which it recommends lifting the obligation to vaccinate caregivers against Covid-19. François Braun, the Minister of Health, indicated that he would follow this recommendation.

Dear @wargonm, it is the law that provides that the Government must follow the advice of the HAS. Like you, I especially remember the unwavering commitment of vaccinated caregivers, on the front line, who saved lives. https://t.co/TscY9xwCu0

— Francois Braun (@FrcsBraun) March 31, 2023

Following this announcement, several voices were raised among vaccinated health professionals. “We are deeply disgusted, and it’s a collective feeling!“, explains Jérôme Martygeneral practitioner and president of theFrench Union for Free Medicine.

Loss of credibility without compulsory vaccination against Sars-CoV-2

Since September 15, 2021, health professionals – those working in hospitals or retirement homes, but also paramedics, home helpers or even firefighters – had to attest to a complete vaccination schedule to exercise. Without it, they were suspended without pay. But this new opinion from the HAS therefore opens the way to their reinstatement.

“I often have patients who ask me if I am vaccinated, explains Benjamin Davido, infectiologist at the Raymond-Poincaré hospital in Garches. By answering ‘yes’, I can tell them that the vaccine is not dangerous, that it reduces the risk of infection by 50%. With this lifting, there is a risk of credibility of the doctor, who is no longer on his pedestal of exemplarity.“For him, this decision allows”remove a thorn from the foot“to the government because it would be easier than to”set up a new mandatory recall campaign“.

Doctors who disagree with the HAS opinion understand it all the less as it is taken at a time when the epidemic is on the rise again. Indeed, according to epidemiological update from March 13 to 19 from Public Health France, incidence and positivity rates – although still low – are increasing for the second week in a row. “We have a virus that continues to circulateprotests Jérôme Marty. And who tells us that a new dangerous variant will not appear? It is political reasoning.“

Doctors disagree with the opinion of the HAS

An opinion shared by Benjamin Davodo who judges the message sent by the HAS and the government “puzzle” because “the virus is likely to circulate faster, stronger. We risk giving him fresh blood with young caregivers. And this is also accompanied by a relaxation of barrier gestures in the hospital“.

However, in its opinion, the HAS justifies its decision: “This recommendation to lift the obligation to vaccinate against Covid-19 in no way constitutes a questioning of its previous opinions and recommendations given in different health and epidemic contexts.”

On RMC, Mathias Wargon, the head of emergencies at the Delafontaine hospital center, was also indignant at this decision: “We carried the vaccination campaign, we took buckets of faeces – to be polite – on our heads, without much support from the government, […] and all of a sudden we are not even told thank you and finally we will reinstate them, […] we let go, what.”

????THE #caregivers unvaccinated back soon?

“We took buckets of feces without support from the @governmentFR and all of a sudden, not even thank you, and then we reintegrate them!”

????️@wargonmhead of emergencies at the Delafontaine hospital center#ApollineMatin pic.twitter.com/0ihaG53uHR

— RMC (@RMCInfo) March 31, 2023

Among non-vaccinated caregivers, the announcement is obviously well received. “Resuming my job today would be a great victory, explains a medical secretary from the Gonesse hospital in Val d’Oise at the microphone of RTL. And we shouldn’t have come this far!”

Some trade union organizations support the decision of the HAS. This is the case of the CGT Health Union of Nièvre. “There are still employees excluded for lack of vaccination, indicates Laurent Laboureau, its secretary general, in the Center Journal. We have been asking for the reinstatement of these people for a long time. Especially since the barriers imposed are lifted everywhere (wearing a mask, distancing, etc.). And we authorized vaccinated caregivers, affected by the Covid, but asymptomatic, to return to work in their service. So, we cannot have two weights, two measures.”

In its opinion, the HAS also recommends lifting the vaccination obligation for caregivers for the DTP vaccine, which concerns diphtheria, tetanus and poliomyelitis. A very dangerous message for some health professionals because it could encourage the “antivax” dynamic already very strong in France. “This will create tensions in the services, and above all, those who have lost their jobs are the most extreme!, insists Jérôme Marty. They’re going to proselytize antivax! You want people who think that the vaccine is used to control people thanks to 5G to treat your grandparents.“

According Public Health France19.4% of the population is not vaccinated in France.