The flu is in full swing in early January. While French Public Health warns of intense traffic that aggravates the problems of already overwhelmed hospitals, doses of vaccines against the disease are running out.
“In fact, there is a localized shortage and it is necessary to provide additional doses,” Dimanche Charles Wolf, director of Sanofi in France, explains to La Tribune.
According to data provided by the Federation of Community Pharmacists to BFMTV, during the 2024-2025 campaign that is ending, 10.3 million vaccine doses have already been administered. And there would be 600,000 distributed among the different establishments, but with a distribution that does not necessarily correspond to the needs.
New doses available “in a few days”
Due to the specific ordering and distribution scheme of the flu vaccine, it is, in theory, very difficult for pharmacists to consolidate new stock during the campaign.
But Sanofi announced Sunday to La Tribune that it had “proposed to the State to make available more than 250,000 new doses of the Sanofi flu vaccine currently on the market.”
These additional vials “should be available within a few days.” The laboratory explains that it is deploying in France “doses initially planned for other countries in the European Union”, without specifying which ones in this interview.
Charles Wolf, who also supervises the company’s Vaccines section, asks France to “anticipate more” the number of doses needed for the next campaign, while pharmacies will place orders for the month of October in the coming weeks.
Pharmacists base their orders on the number of doses administered last season. This can cause shortages in the case of a sequence between weak and strong demand, or wasted doses in the opposite case. The Federation of Community Pharmacists and health authorities have asked to increase orders for the 2025-2026 campaign.
Source: BFM TV
