At the moment, not a phone call to anyone who is not sick or almost. A loved one, a friend, a relationship… “I can’t, I think I have the flu, I’m in bed…” Consequence: the hospital is saturated, the professionals suffer. We could say that it's the same thing every year. No, this year, for the flu, it's worse.
For Thierry Péchey, president of the Order of Nurses of Meurthe-et-Moselle, contacted between two trips this Wednesday, January 8, the situation is “inadmissible and incomprehensible”.
“Everything is blocked at the moment. For what ? We haven't vaccinated enough at all! The flu vaccination rate this year, for the population at risk, is less than 50% compared to last year. In the population and among professionals. Now it's too late! If there had been more prevention, we wouldn't be there, but we stuck our heads in the sand! One of the only solutions is to reestablish barrier gestures: masks and hydroalcoholic gel. We save lives with this,” recalls the nurse.
“We are not collectively coordinated”
The Meurthe-et-Moselle branch of the Regional Health Agency (ARS) convened a crisis meeting this Wednesday morning.
Sylvie Rossignon, general practitioner, president of the CPTS (Territorial Professional Health Community) of Greater Nancy, attended.
“How is it possible that, four years after Covid, we are still here? I no longer understand us collectively. We do not yet have enough access to vaccines. We should have an HSE plan triggered, a plan for managing exceptional health situations. This plan is ready for us, but the prefect must give his approval. Why are we waiting? We should implement it as soon as we see that people are not vaccinated enough, and not wait for the epidemic to grow,” the doctor wonders.
She adds: “The crisis we are currently experiencing was predictable: people did not get vaccinated. A crisis meeting like this morning is useless. We don't coordinate! We are not collectively coordinated…”
