The High Authority for Health has recommended extending the vaccination of the three vaccines – Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca – to pharmacists, nurses and midwives.
- The HAS justified its decision by explaining the need to accelerate the vaccination of the most vulnerable and to fight against inequalities of access.
- 95% of pharmacists told us that they are ready to vaccinate, declared Gilles Bonnefond.
- The AstraZeneca vaccine is now available for 65-75 year olds with comorbidities.
On Monday March 1, Olivier Véran told the 8 p.m. newspaper of France 2 that pharmacists will be able to inject AstraZeneca serum “in a few days”. And this Tuesday, the High Authority for Health (HAS) recommended, in a press release, to go further and extend vaccine skills for all vaccines – Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca – to pharmacists, midwives and nurses. “This is good news and it was about time”, rejoiced at Why Doctor Gilles Bonnefond, national president of the union of pharmacists’ unions in pharmacies.
95% of pharmacists ready to vaccinate
The HAS justified its decision by explaining the need to accelerate the vaccination of the most vulnerable and to fight against inequalities of access. “Another lever for accelerating vaccination consists in simplifying access to vaccination by multiplying the places of vaccination, by diversifying the vaccinators and by being as close as possible to the population to be vaccinated.she wrote. Reason why the HAS had previously recommended that midwives and pharmacists be able to prescribe and administer the AstraZeneca vaccine. In line with this opinion, HAS is today in favor of extending the vaccination skills of pharmacists, midwives and nurses for all vaccines against Covid-19, including mRNA vaccines..”
For Gilles Bonnefond, this decision was long awaited. “The enemy is not the pharmacist, it’s the Covidhe recalls. We have been explaining since December that the vaccination campaign cannot be done without pharmacists and that patients prefer to go to their local pharmacy rather than traveling several tens of kilometers to go to vaccination centers..” He believes that “95% of pharmacists told us they are ready to vaccinate”. Many patients have already gone to their pharmacy for information, where waiting lists have started to form.
AstraZeneca vaccine available for 65-75 year olds with comorbidity
The extension of vaccine competence will make it possible to use all available doses of vaccine. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health reported that only 25% of doses of AstraZeneca received were used. “On AstraZeneca, there is a particular situation: we are on Sunday evening at 24-25% inventory consumption“, vs “almost 70%” on average for all available vaccines, the ministry explained during a weekly update on vaccines. “It is clear that to vaccinate everyone must be mobilized and to oppose doctors and pharmacists is a mistakeanswers the national president of the union of pharmacists’ unions. Today, the important thing is to use all the doses. Doctors cannot do everything alone and involving other professions with nurses, pharmacists and midwives is necessary.”
Another novelty, announced Monday evening by Olivier Véran, the AstraZeneca vaccine is now available for 65-75 year olds who have comorbidities. This extension is based on the HAS opinion published on Tuesday, which takes into account new studies carried out in the United Kingdom, showing that the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective in reducing hospitalizations in the elderly.
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