For seniors, vaccination recommendations are “little followed” and coverage stagnates at one level ” weak “feeding “an increasingly heavy national medical and economic burden”deplores the Academy of Medicine, while the influenza epidemic is circulating at a high level of intensity. To reverse the trend, the Sages of rue Bonaparte want to make vaccination of those aged 65 and over a “priority public health objective. »
In a press release, the Academy recalls the deleterious effects of a lack of vaccination in those aged 65 and over, and in particular the high morbidity and mortality associated with an infectious episode in this population, often coupled with a post-infectious functional decline. “with progressive loss of autonomy”. In view of these effects, vaccination coverage for seniors remains largely insufficient: it is only 54% against the flu, 30% against Covid, 5% against pneumococcus and 4% against shingles.
Several elements contribute to these poor results. While the attending physician occupies a “pivotal role”, “the limited time of an elderly person’s medical consultation, already largely devoted to monitoring chronic illnesses, works against the attention paid to vaccination”judges the Academy, also calling into question “the isolation of certain seniors” et “the lack of coordination between the different health actors. »
The Academy, which had made vaccines its great cause in 2024, had organized several conferences during the year, giving the floor to numerous experts to understand the current reluctance, rethink vaccination policy and identify concrete actions to improve coverage in the most vulnerable populations. The intensity of the epidemic wave this winter season and the mortality associated with it remind everyone of the need to achieve this.
Five priority vaccinations
It is in this context that the Academy is today calling for the implementation of a “national prevention policy” setting as priorities among seniors five “target diseases” : influenza, Covid-19, pneumococcal and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections, shingles.
-For its deployment, health professionals must be mobilized: “doctors, but also pharmacists and nurses since the extension of vaccination skills”, is he recalled. They must be encouraged to update the vaccination status of their elderly patients based on the new recommendations from the High Authority for Health (HAS).
To support them in their mission, it is recommended to“expand the use of the digital vaccination record” and of “seize every opportunity” to vaccinate seniors (consultations, hospitalizations, trips abroad, vaccination campaigns). He is never “too late to vaccinate an elderly person”insists the Academy, “the effects of immunosenescence can be overcome by the use of new vaccines or new vaccination schedules. »
The principle of“to go towards” with mobile vaccination teams must be strengthened to reach residents in nursing homes, beneficiaries of the personalized autonomy allowance living at home, sometimes far from care centers. A « effort » is also to be carried out on the vaccination of health professionals and personal assistance working in contact with elderly people, the Academy still insists.
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