the Academy of Medicine denounces the “very slow start” of vaccination

“There is no more time to wait“: this is the message from the #National #Academy of #Medicine on #Thursday. #In a press release, it asks the government to speed up the vaccination campaign against #Covid-19 in #France, denouncing the start”very slow“of the process with precautions that she judges”excessive“.

The #Academy notes an implementation “progressive“of the campaign which began last #Sunday in nursing homes, due to the process of obtaining consent, the search for possible contraindications in a fragile population and the patient’s maintenance for observation 15 minutes after the injection.

“#Excessive” precautions

“#This extreme caution is assumed by the health authorities who rule out the possibility of simplifying these procedures during the preliminary phase. #It is sanctioned by a very slow start of the program“, writes the #Academy, in comparison with other #European countries.

“#Adopted to reassure a public opinion won by hesitation, these excessive precautions risk, on the contrary, provoking a growing incomprehension vis-à-vis a campaign whose kick-off seems to lack determination.“, she insists in the press release.

The national immunization campaign must be exemplary.

“”#France deplores more than 64,000 deaths from #Covid-19, including nearly a third in the high-risk population who must be vaccinated in the next eight weeks, underlines the #National #Academy of #Medicine. #Faced with this observation, the national immunization campaign must be exemplary in a country which has contributed so much to the elimination of infectious diseases through vaccination.“.

“#Simplify and shorten”

#In its press release, the #Academy gives several recommendations, in particular “simplify and shorten as much as possible the vaccination procedures in nursing homes“.

#She also pleads for the first phase of vaccination to be deployed “in priority“in the departments”with the highest #Covid-19 incidence rates“and for the”transparency“the state of vaccine stocks so that”the implementation of the vaccination strategy does not appear to be dictated by the vagaries of delivery“.

#For its part, the #Academy of #Medicine says it is committed to organizing a collective vaccination session “of its full and corresponding members from the transition to phase 2, that is to say in #March 2021 “.

#With less than 200 injections since #Sunday against thousands in #Germany or #Italy, this slow start of the vaccination campaign in #France arouses criticism and incomprehension. #But the government says favor “pedagogy”, explained the #Minister of #Health #Olivier Véran #Tuesday on #France 2: “#We collect people’s consent before they are vaccinated. I think it’s a guarantee of trust“.