Nursing staff in hospitals are eligible for vaccination with AstraZeneca serum. However, the rate of vaccinated caregivers would be rather low. Some professionals propose to make vaccination compulsory for workers in the medical sector.
Nosocomial disease
To date, more than 3 million French people have received at least one dose of the vaccine against Covid-19. The government’s goal is to immunize 6 million people by the end of March. Recently, the High Authority for Health issued new recommendations for the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is now available to people over 65 years of age. The Covid-19 vaccine was initially reserved for caregivers over the age of 50 or with co-morbidities. Since February 6, it has been accessible to all health professionals, but also to firefighters or home helpers. In hospitals, some caregivers are reluctant to be vaccinated against Covid-19, in particular because of the lack of perspective. However, it could be that a patient hospitalized for another health problem could contract Covid-19 during his stay, because the virus circulates in hospitals. Indeed, Public Health France, lists more than 44,400 cases of Covid, contracted in hospital. It would have become the first nosocomial disease in France, making health establishments hotbeds of contamination.
Mandatory for hospital workers?
In France, only 25% of AstraZeneca doses intended for professionals would have been used in the space of a month. In addition, 34% of the medical staff of the Public Assistance-Hospitals of Paris would have received a first dose. According to the latest report from Public Health France, less than 39% of professionals who work in nursing homes or USLDs have received a first dose of vaccine. Some professionals want to make vaccination against Covid-19 compulsory. This is the case of François Chast, the head of the clinical pharmacy service at Necker hospital, guest of FranceInter: “ We have a duty today, it is not to incite, but to oblige all hospital workers, all caregivers […] to get vaccinated “. He believes that vaccination against Covid-19 must become compulsory for hospital staff, like others, such as that against tetanus, diphtheria or hepatitis B. In addition, he adds: ” A person who is operated on for a gallbladder should not die of Covid after being hospitalized. It’s not acceptable ! I would even say that a dependent elderly person who comes to an nursing home to have a happy, serene and peaceful end of life should not die of Covid today “.
