The Ministry of Health has estimated that it will be necessary to “adapt” its calendar for the summer holidays and that “taking your second dose in a different place” than the first “must be the exception”. But Jean Castex himself urged the French not to hesitate to be vaccinated in their “resort”.
- There is a delay of 42 days between two injections for messenger RNA vaccines and 12 weeks for AstraZeneca.
- The executive fears that there will be forgotten cancellations of appointments initially made for the injection of the second dose.
- Additional doses will be sent to tourist areas to maintain the vaccination offer this summer.
As summer approaches, the executive distills its vaccine recommendations and, already, contradictions appear. On the one hand, the Ministry of Health has indicated that vacation planning will have to adapt to the vaccination schedule. According to its recommendations, presented this Tuesday, May 11 during an online press briefing, “take their second dose at another location“than the first”must be the exception”. Invited on the set of the 20 hours of France 2 last night, Jean Castex called on the French not to hesitate to get vaccinated “at a vaccination center in your resort”, especially during the Ascension weekend.
On the eve of this extended weekend of the ascension, I call on everyone to be careful, but I also invite our eligible compatriots to be vaccinated in the centers that will be open.
→ Make an appointment for you or your loved ones on https://t.co/sGpUtk5csy pic.twitter.com/MnYj4gguid— Jean Castex (@JeanCASTEX) May 11, 2021
The location of the second injection in question
The first vaccine constraint is that of the time imposed between two injections, which is 42 days for the messenger RNA vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, and 12 weeks for the AstraZeneca vaccine. During its press briefing, the Ministry of Health recalled that extending the time between the two doses is excluded. With the opening of vaccination for all adults unconditionally from mid-June, the summer period should be that of mass vaccination. But with a deadline to meet, the French will have to “adapt” their vacation based on their vaccination appointment, according to the ministry.
The second constraint is the one that crystallizes the executive’s puzzle: can you do your second injection in any vaccination center? According to the Ministry of Health, the general answer is that it is not possible to receive your second dose in a place other than where you received the first, and the reverse constitutes the ‘exception. This recommendation is based in particular on the fear of possible forgetfulness of cancellations of appointments initially made for the injection of the second dose. The ministry wants to avoid that this change of place “destabilize the whole system”. To overcome these eventualities, there is now a device allowing you to make an appointment online only for a second dose, the ministry noted.
More doses planned for tourist locations
The government’s objective remains to maintain the vaccination offer this summer. For this, more doses are planned in tourist areas but the ministry explains that it is “very difficult to successfully anticipate the number of additional doses” needed in these places. “It depends on population flows and movements which are linked to the individual choices of people, hence the need to impose the rule of vaccination in the same place.”, added the ministry.
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