The vaccination campaign against winter viruses is officially launched for everyone. And this year the health authorities want to reverse the curves. Occitanie has seen a significant drop in the vaccination rate in recent years, both for flu, Covid and bronchiolitis.
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The arrival of winter is synonymous with viruses and sometimes complications. To avoid ending up in hospital, the ARS has just launched its prevention campaign with one objective: to encourage people to vaccinate more.
The figures for winter 2023-2024 are, for some, chilling. The flu and Covid-19 continue to kill in Occitania. Concerning the flu, 92 people were hospitalized in intensive care in 2023/2024 in Occitanie. 25 of them died. For Covid, there are 72 serious cases and 9 deaths.
Winter viruses therefore continue to kill but preconceived ideas die hard. Who hasn’t said: “I’m young, I don’t risk anything” or “I never get sick, so why get vaccinated?”. As a result, vaccination rates are falling: 46.7% against the flu and 26.7% against covid for those over 65.
Figures that worry health authorities: “We are also seeing a drop in the vaccination rate of vulnerable people against the flu”deplores Didier Jaffre, general director of the Occitanie Regional Health Agency, who constantly repeats: ““Being vaccinated means protecting yourself and others.”
Because the Occitanie region is one of those with the lowest vaccination rates in France. It recorded a drop of 8.7 points in three years, and the ARS would like to remedy this to protect the people most at risk.
The ARS believes that treating doctors have a determining role to play with their patients, their voice counting more than all the incentives of institutions. Especially since this vaccination is fully reimbursed for those over 65 and people with chronic illnesses.
The ARS therefore calls for a “mobilization of all doctors and liberal nurses”. They are on the front line in contact with the most vulnerable. The authorities also encourage healthcare workers to “lead by example” : “the vaccination rate of professionals is only 20% for the flu and 9.9% for Covid”.
Vaccination campaigns are accessible to everyone and it is possible to combine the flu vaccine and the Covid vaccine together. For younger children, the bronchiolitis vaccine is strongly recommended. The virus affects 30% of those under 2 years old and last winter 4,000 infant visits to emergency rooms were recorded.
