Patient associations denounce an unclear vaccine strategy for people with diabetes.
- Diabetes is an important criterion of vulnerability to Covid-19.
- According to the associations, the list of priority people for vaccination is however unclear with regard to people with diabetes, who are only indirectly cited under “polypathologies”.
As a new phase in the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 opened on January 18, people with diabetes and their caregivers denounce an unclear vaccination strategy concerning them.
Several questions are indeed struggling to find concrete and formal answers: when will these vulnerable people all be able to be vaccinated? Are they or are they not part of the list of particularly vulnerable people, who can benefit from vaccination since January 18 on medical prescription without age criteria?
A controversial list of priority people
The authorities, under the aegis of Professor Alain Fisher, have established a list of priority people for the anti-covid-19 vaccine, attempting to refine or complete the one initially issued by the High Authority for Health. The people mentioned on this list, which is necessarily very restrictive, can be vaccinated since January 18, subject to having a medical prescription, in addition to people over the age of 75 who are also a priority at the start of phase two.
“This new list, which is welcome given the few doses of vaccines available in view of the health context aggravated by the arrival on French territory of new, more contagious variants, however lacks clarity with regard to people with diabetes, which are only indirectly cited under “polypathologies” or multiple pathologies”, believe the French-speaking Diabetes Society and the French Diabetes Federation.
People with diabetes are more vulnerable to Covid-19
Diabetes is, however, an important criterion of vulnerability to Covid-19. The public authorities, including the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, have constantly affirmed this in their various interventions since March. As proof: people with diabetes are among those who, from the start of the health crisis, were able to benefit from a partial activity scheme to protect them from the risk of contamination in their workplace.
The French Federation of Diabetics and the Francophone Society of Diabetes therefore urge the Government to communicate better and to confirm that people with diabetes, with another chronic pathology, can be vaccinated today. They also wish to draw attention to the importance of vaccination of healthcare professionals in repeated contact with people with diabetes, regardless of their age.
“Allow an update of the list of priority audiences”
Finally, they ask the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that there are no logistical obstacles that could disrupt the effective running of the vaccination campaign, i.e.: guarantee rapid and secure access to vaccines that have their proof of effectiveness; allow other health professionals to vaccinate to increase vaccination capacity and make it accessible to people who cannot travel; be transparent about the number of doses available and injected; allow an update of the list of priority audiences according to the evolution of the number of people vaccinated and the number of doses available. More than 4.5 million people are diabetic in France.
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