Dr François Billy, vice-president of the CPTS (Professional Territorial Health Community) Sud-Deux-Sèvres, wants to be reassuring about the available stocks of flu vaccines. “In our territory, Mellois and Haut-Val-de-Sèvre, if some pharmacies no longer have them, others do. We direct our patients to where they can get vaccinated. I am confident we should not be out of stock. Especially since we have just received this morning [du 14 janvier 2025] a note from the DGRS [Direction générale de la santé] : manufacturers offer to reinject vaccines if necessary. » Information confirmed by Dr Jean-Luc Bussault, pharmacist in Melle and president of the professional union chamber, who hopes to receive new batches of vaccines “as soon as possible”.
“It’s always annoying to refer our patients to other pharmacies, especially when it requires them to travel miles”.
At the Sèvre pharmacy in Moncoutant, Dr Audrey Delabroye currently still has around fifteen flu vaccines and has never been out of stock since the start of the season. In the north of the department on Wednesday January 15, a pharmacist confirmed having received five new vaccines that same morning from his wholesaler.
Depending on the potential of the population and their motivation, the number of vaccinated people or vaccines sold to date varies in the department between 600 and 1,400 per pharmacy (1).
In Gâtine, Dr Laure Vincent was out of stock but hoped to be restocked within a few days. “Last year in January on this same date, only around ten patients had requested the vaccine. This year we are already at fifty. They hear that the flu epidemic is progressing. It is fear that creates this demand”.
It's fear that creates demand this month of January
Laura Vincent, doctor of pharmacy in Gâtine
The Ministry of Health finally reminds that it is possible to be vaccinated until January 31. In practice, each year a health professional during this telephone survey told us that vaccination was generally extended by one month, until the end of February.
“Each member of the CPAM (Primary Health Insurance Fund) aged over 65 or with pathologies such as diabetes has received a voucher to be vaccinated free of charge”recalls Dr Bernard Pénicaud at the La Rocade pharmacy in Niort. “Those for whom it is paid are most of the time reimbursed by their mutual insurance company. »
(1) According to a sampling carried out on four pharmacies chosen at random.
