A warning for the coming months. The flu is dangerous and not only for the very old, health authorities recalled on Tuesday at the start of the annual vaccination campaign, warning in particular those who have just turned 65.
“Certain populations, particularly exposed to a risk of severe influenza, continue to be insufficiently vaccinated,” François Braun, Minister of Health, lamented during a press conference.
Sensitize the little ones
France launches its annual vaccination campaign against seasonal flu on Tuesday, in a context already marked by an eighth wave of Covid-19 for several weeks.
Influenza is currently limited to a few sporadic cases. But the health authorities insist on the importance of getting vaccinated now for people at risk of serious forms or death.
This particularly affects pregnant women, people with certain chronic diseases (asthma, diabetes) and, above all, people over 65 years of age.
However, if vaccination rates are relatively satisfactory among the very old, they seem particularly insufficient among other French at risk. One category is proposed by the Ministry of Health: the “older youth”, that is, those who have just turned 65 years old.
Their “age-related sense of invulnerability is the main reason for considering themselves out of danger,” the ministry details in a joint press release with several public health agencies, “resulting in particularly low vaccination coverage.”
For all French from November 15
The authorities also point to insufficient coverage among children at risk, while the 2021 epidemic, also exceptional for its delay, caused an unusually high rate of severe forms among those under fifteen years of age.
The flu vaccine is, for the moment, reserved for people at risk who can receive their booster vaccine against Covid-19 at the same time, as the authorities are strongly encouraging them to do.
As of November 15, all French people will be able to benefit from a flu vaccine if they wish, but without being reimbursed by Social Security if they do not have a risk profile or if they are under 65 years of age.
Source: BFM TV
