Will we soon be able to get vaccinated without consulting our doctor? The government wants to bury the principle of a medical consultation before vaccination in order to speed up the vaccination campaign.
The Minister of Health estimated this Tuesday morning that in order to simplify the process, it will be possible to replace the concentration before vaccination with a simpler and more direct unit. “We will allow nurses and other healthcare professionals to carry out the vaccination procedure, not necessarily in the presence of doctors, but under the supervision of a doctor,” Olivier Véran explained on RTL.
This relaxation of the procedure is contrary to the recommendations of the High Authority for Health. In its statement of 23 December on the vaccination strategy, HAS considers that “the prior medical consultation in which the anti-Covid vaccine will be prescribed will make it possible to assess the relevance of the vaccination in each individual case”.
“A great risk of mistrust”
The liberal medical associations are divided. For Jacques Battistoni, president of MG France, it would be a mistake to abandon the use of a doctor. “Behind this pre-vaccination concentration that we did not claim as such, there is a need to get a prescription for the vaccine from the attending physician to convince people,” he explains. “The biggest risk if we remove the prescription from the doctor is to have a weak agreement among the population about vaccination.”
The Confederation of French Medical Unions (CSMF) is more flexible regarding this agreement with its attending physician. “The consultation before vaccination is important because the French are suspicious of the vaccine, but we can very well see a doctor at the time of vaccination,” said Jean-Paul Ortiz, president of the CSMF.
“Not necessarily your treating doctor”
For example, the doctor you see at a vaccination center, group doctor’s office or nursing home is not necessarily your GP. It informs you quickly by explaining the benefits and risks of the vaccine. A doctor must be present due to the risk of allergies, but he may very well supervise several nurses who vaccinate people. It can go very quickly, but we still need the vaccine. If there is now a delay in the ignition during vaccination, it is mainly for logistical problems, “he adds.
For Jacques Battistoni, the end of the pre-vaccination consultation will not give the vaccination campaign a boost. “It is wrong. Today, what is delaying the process is that vaccines are not yet available in nursing homes, and that GPs do not have the capacity to vaccinate,” said the president of MG France.