According to figures released by Philippe Besset, president of the Federation of Pharmaceutical Unions of France (FSPF), the pharmacy exceeded the scores of the previous campaign in terms of vaccines administered by pharmacists and preparers.
Are pharmacists victims of their success in flu vaccination? According to alerts emanating from the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region (PACA) or even the Grand Est, doses are running out in certain pharmacies. However, this could be a bad distribution. Indeed, according to IQVIA figures, communicated on January 9 by the Federation of Pharmaceutical Unions of France (FSPF), 600,000 doses would still be available in the pharmacy circuit as well as from wholesalers.
However, these alerts reveal the involvement of pharmacists and their teams in flu vaccination. To date, 10.3 million doses have been delivered compared to 10.2 million in 2023-2024. But above all, with 60% (6.2 million) of them administered by pharmacies, the pharmacy outperformed its performance from the previous season by 12%. Far from being satisfied with these good scores, Philippe Besset calls on his colleagues to increase their vaccine orders by 10% for the next campaign. “We will have to see with the laboratories the recovery conditions to secure the network. Pharmacists must be the promoters of vaccination in this country. They have a vital role to play in the prevention of infectious diseases through vaccination”he continues, illustrating his remarks with the results obtained last November. All indications combined, 280,000 vaccines were administered in the network during this month, of which 67,000 (or 20%) were prescribed by the pharmacy teams.
For the moment, the epidemic which is affecting all regions has led the profession to want to readjust the treatment of flu in pharmacies. Or to emit new tracks more adapted to reality. Thus, in the Alpes-Maritimes, the congestion of emergencies and the lack of vaccines in certain pharmacies encourage the president of the department’s pharmacists’ union, Raphaël Gigliotti to consider that, in these specific cases of shortages, “the retrocession should be authorized”. Respecting the cold chain is not an obstacle for him, between pharmacists, it will necessarily be respected. Likewise, the union representative considers certain relaxations necessary. According to him, pharmacists should be authorized to prescribe and dispense Tamiflu to vulnerable people and those around them, “product underused by doctors”. Or, he calls for coverage of flu screening tests which, unlike Covid TRODs, are not refundable. “A suggestion to make to the High Authority for Health (HAS)”concludes Philippe Besset who, obviously, notes this new progress on his wish list for 2025.
