Health professionals left out of France’s vaccine booster campaign
The doctors’ professional body is asking that medical workers are prioritised for booster jabs so as to protect patients as the rules have changed since the vaccination campaign began
Medical workers are no longer prioritised for jabs
DELBO ANDREA / Shutterstock
Covid boosters have been offered to people over 80 years old and those at particularly high risk from variant strains since the beginning of the month but health workers in France have not been included.
Now, the doctors' professional body l'Ordre des médecins is asking for this to be changed. Health professionals had previously been prioritised at the start of the vaccination campaign to protect both themselves and their patients.
It argues that enabling all health professionals to get their vaccine boosters now is "essential to ensure the continuity of care and the safety of all, in hospitals and in the city."
Booster jabs are designed to prevent vaccine protection from waning six months after the original vaccine schedule has been completed and are especially important in light of the risk posed by the new Delta variant.
The Covid booster programme has just begun in France with those at the top of the list including people in their 80s, residents of nursing homes, the immunocompromised and others considered at particularly high risk of developing a serious form of the coronavirus.
Some 120,000 boosters have so far been administered, according to the Ministry of Health.
The French National Authority for Health is also recommending boosters for specific demographics, including people aged 65 and over, but again without mentioning caregivers.
Related articles
200,000 Covid booster appointments booked in France in 48 hours
French health pass problem after third Covid dose fixed, states Ameli
