The seasonal flu vaccination campaign starts tomorrow, Tuesday October 15, 2024, in France. It will be coupled with that against Covid-19. For the 2023-2024 season, around 47% of French people over 65 and under 65 at risk have been vaccinated against the flu.
Published: October 14, 2024 at 3:21 p.m.
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With the return of cold days and freezing temperatures, come the germs. And, among seasonal illnesses, the flu. According to figures from Public Health France, influenza kills, on average, nearly 9,000 people each year in France and requires around 20,000 hospitalizations. Hence the need for people at risk to be vaccinated against this potentially fatal infection.
The vaccination campaign in practice
This is good, since the annual flu vaccination campaign starts on Tuesday October 15, 2024. A campaign which will be carried out jointly with that of vaccination against Covid-19: the two vaccinations can, moreover, be carried out at the same time. time (or separately).
The people targeted by this vaccination campaign against seasonal flu are: those aged 65 and over; those under 65 who suffer from chronic illnesses (from the age of 6 months); people who suffer from obesity; pregnant women, regardless of their trimester of pregnancy; people who are hospitalized or staying in a medico-social accommodation establishment, regardless of age.
Regarding vaccination against Covid-19, it is recommended for: people with comorbidities (from the age of six months), such as high blood pressure, cancer, cardiac pathologies, obesity or diabetes; immunocompromised people; pregnant women; people who reside in EHPADs and long-term care units. People living around people at risk and immunocompromised are also targeted by the Covid-19 vaccination campaign.
Vaccination against the flu, as well as that against Covid-19, is recommended for professionals in the medical and social sectors. Flu vaccination is 100% covered for most people at risk. Vaccination against Covid-19 is free for everyone.
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Flu vaccination coverage in recent years
According to data from Public Health France, for the 2023-2024 vaccination season, 47.7% of people targeted by the campaign were vaccinated: in detail, 54% of those over 65 and 25.4% of those under 65 years old at risk. This figure has stabilized for 10 years, with a peak reached during the 2020-2021 season, then in the midst of the Covid-19 epidemic. That year, 55.8% of people targeted by the vaccination campaign had received a dose of vaccine (59.9% of those over 65 and 38.7% of those under 65 at risk).
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