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France is in a heated debate over whether to require healthcare workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19. While the government is deliberating, FRANCE 24 has told caregivers of their reluctance to be vaccinated.
Should France force its caregivers to be vaccinated against Covid-19? Ninety-four doctors – including department heads who became media celebrities during the pandemic – have called on the government to pass a law forcing nursing home and hospital workers “exposed or exposing those in their care to the disease. risk of infection ”by Covid- 19 be vaccinated. In an editorial in the July 4 issue of the weekly Sunday Newspaper, doctors have called for making vaccines mandatory by early September to “prevent a fourth wave” of the pandemic in light of the rapid progression of the highly contagious Delta variant.
While Prime Minister Jean Castex held meetings with parliamentarians and local elected officials to discuss the development of a bill, Minister of Health Olivier Véran expressed his support for the measure.
“Asking a caregiver to be vaccinated is not the finger,” he said Sunday evening. “It’s simply asking them to go through with their commitment.
Fear of side effects
To date, only 57% of nursing staff and 64% of hospital staff have been vaccinated in France, according to the French Hospital Federation. With the risk of a fourth wave looming, the pressure is mounting for all medical professionals to get the jab. But many remain reluctant, sharing their concerns in anti-vaccination Facebook groups and on social media using the hashtag #JeNeMeVaccineraiPas (or #NotGettingVaccinated).
Sylvie, a nursing home nurse, refused for fear of possible side effects. “I don’t trust their gene therapy. There is not enough hindsight on the vaccine. It’s still experimental and humans are being used as guinea pigs. For me, it’s toxic, “she told FRANCE 24.
Martin, a psychiatric nurse, shares these fears. “We cannot be sure that there are no side effects in the medium and long term,” he said. “Vaccinations should only be intended for people at risk, such as the elderly and people with underlying health problems,” he said, stressing that he was not anti-vaccine in general and that he was up to date with all of his other vaccines. Half of his colleagues shared this view, he said, and the issue became controversial. “What will happen to those who refuse even if it is required?” He asked, believing that such a law could “lead to a wave of resignations”.
Anita, a nursing assistant in a gastroenterology and palliative care unit, asked herself the same questions. “I was wondering how there could be a vaccine in such a short time that was effective and safe,” she said. “We had no information on what was going on regarding the disease, the vaccines, the treatments … It was totally different during the H1N1 epidemic, where there was a lot more information and more measures. security in place. “
After some thought, Anita changed her mind and got vaccinated. “When you work in a unit like mine, there is traffic, people come and go, there is always the risk of contact with a patient who has the virus. I didn’t want to infect my family or get sick, ”she said. “I also said to myself that it was not possible for them to inject the world population with a potentially very dangerous vaccine.”
Some vaccines already mandatory
The unions responded to questions from concerned health professionals. “What we hear most often is that there isn’t enough long-term perspective on the side effects of the vaccine. Professionals tell us that, generally, the clinical research phases are much longer than what we have seen here, ”said Daniel Gillerm, president of the National Federation of Nurses.
The federation is in favor of compulsory vaccination for caregivers and has adopted an educational approach in its effort to reassure those who are still wary of it.
“We now have studies showing that vaccination not only protects the individual, but also reduces the risk of transmissibility. It therefore makes sense to include the Covid vaccine in the compulsory vaccination schedule for all caregivers, ”Guillerm said.
Healthcare workers in hospitals and nursing homes must already be vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, polio and hepatitis B. An influenza vaccine was added to this list in 2005, but was withdrawn in 2006 after the Superior Council of Public Hygiene of France noted in a report that “it could meet opposition from health professionals”.
Italy passed a law in April requiring caregivers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 – those who do not comply and are in contact with the public are reassigned to other units or suspended without pay if no other position is ‘is available. Less than 3% of workers in the Italian health sector have refused to be vaccinated against Covid-19, but 300 of them have taken legal action to have the obligation lifted. An appeal to the Brescia Administrative Court is due to be heard on July 14.
In France, the conservative senators The Republicans party and centrists tabled a bill in April to make vaccination of caregivers compulsory. According to an Odoxa-Backbone Consulting study of July 1 for French dailies Le Figaro and Info France, 72% of French people support the measure and a majority (58%) approve compulsory vaccination for the entire population.
This article has been translated from the original into French.
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