Will the fall in flu vaccinations continue this year? Not impossible: 35% of people at risk of a serious form of the disease had been vaccinated in France, as of November 30, according to the interim report just released by Public Health France. This is less than during the previous season.
Even worse start than in 2023
In Brittany, the same observation: 40% of the population at risk was covered at the end of November. These estimates are “lower than what was obtained the previous year at the same period”, points out the regional branch of the health agency. For the next assessment, we will have to wait until February or March.
The number of doses delivered to pharmacies testifies to this: until January, it was a little lower than last year at the same date. Since then, it has progressed more quickly, according to estimates from IQVIA-Pharmastat based on feedback from more than half of pharmacies in France. The vaccination campaign has also just been extended by one month, until February 28.
Brittany, the most vaccinated region
Decline or stability, this should not prevent Brittany from remaining the most vaccinated region in France. The figures from the end of November suggest this, even if they are missing in three regions. The conclusion is clear from the complete assessments: with more than half of the population at risk vaccinated against influenza, Brittany ranked first, last year, as for five years, ahead of Normandy and the Pays de la Loire .
-“There is real support for vaccination in Brittany,” confirms Bertrand Gagnière, epidemiologist for Public Health France. The phenomenon is known: it was observed during vaccination against the covid-19 virus. This already highlighted “a western arc: Brittany, Normandy, New Aquitaine”, better vaccinated. Finistère appears, once again, as the most vaccinated department in France.
“In Brittany, there is this feeling of belonging to a community, a society,” points out health geographer Emmanuel Vigneron, who looked at these territorial logics of vaccination against covid-19. From the moment “we vaccinate for ourselves, but also for others”, this consideration of the community comes into play. And for Finistère? The researcher invites us to step back on “these departmental averages, which are interesting, but which can cover very contrasting situations”.
A drop in vaccination in Brittany as in France
Despite this “medical citizenship”, vaccination in the region clearly follows the national trend: fewer and fewer Bretons are following the movement. The peak of 2020-2021, in the midst of a health crisis, does not erase this observation. “The decline in France is uniform but, at the same time, the differences between regions persist,” notes Bertrand Gagnière. Brittany does less, but still more than other regions.”
