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VACCINE

Several French hospitals pause AstraZeneca vaccine campaign over temporary side effects

Several French hospitals are pausing or slowing down AstraZeneca vaccination programmes for their staff because severe - albeit temporary - side effects have caused many employees to need sick leave, causing severe logistical problems in already over-stretched services.

Published: 25 February 2021 17:21 CET
Several French hospitals pause AstraZeneca vaccine campaign over temporary side effects
Studies show these secondary effects have nothing to do with the AstraZeneca vaccine’s effectiveness, and are not harmful. Photo: AFP

Since French health workers started receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine on February 6th, many have reported experiencing side effects including a high fever (40C), fatigue and general flu-like symptoms.

The French health ministry has moved to reassure staff that these effects are temporary and do not mean that the vaccine does not work.

But now some hospitals in France have decided to slow down their vaccination campaigns in order to avoid having too many staff off sick at the same time, while others are pausing them altogether.

Thomas Bourhis, a nurse at CHRU hospital in Brest, Brittany, told BFMTV. “The CHRU Brest hospital undertook an unusual strategy, because it created a vaccination team that went to the departments that were most exposed to Covid-19, which means entire teams were vaccinated all at once.

“But it turns out the side effects were underestimated, and we found ourselves with almost a third of health workers in some departments presenting severe symptoms and having to go on sick leave.

“The roll out of this vaccine has therefore been suspended temporarily at the hospital.”

Studies show these secondary effects have nothing to do with the vaccine’s effectiveness, and are not harmful.

“The secondary effects of the Covid-19 vaccines are carefully monitored by ANSM [The French National Drug Safety Agency]. For the AstraZeneca vaccine, it’s important to remember that any side effects remain benign and temporary,” the health ministry said in a tweet.

In a report published on Thursday, the ANSM listed “149 declarations between February 6th and 10th mentioning flu symptoms, often of high intensity”. The average age of the health professionals concerned was 34.

To avoid disrupting healthcare services, the ANSM recommended “staggering vaccination in staff”.

The Poitiers University Hospital (CHU de Poitiers) has began to do this by avoiding vaccinating entire teams all at once, and at least three hospitals in the west of France have suspended AstraZeneca vaccinations of their staff, according to a report by France Bleu.

A hospital in Saint-Lô in Normandy has also slowed down its vaccinations, while the CHRU de Brest hospital (Finistère) has decided to suspend its vaccination campaign completely, according to Ouest France.

The AstraZeneca vaccine in France is only licenced for under 65s, so until now it has been used almost exclusively on health professionals, while older people visiting vaccine centres get the Pfizer BioNTech or Moderna jabs.

Starting on Thursday, people between the ages of 50 and 64 with underlying health conditions can also begin to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine through their GPs or in the workplace.

The AstraZeneca jab is also expected to be used more widely once France rolls out injections more widely in the community, particularly in pharmacies, since it does not require the super-cold storage of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.

Member comments

    1. Whether it works or not, the side effects immediately after getting the vaccine are potentially debilitating for some people in the short term. Fine if you can go home and sleep it off but for overstretched medical services probably not the best choice of vaccine to administer. Overall I prefer the caution of the French government to the gung ho attitude ‘take it on the chin’ approach of some countries.

      1. So here’s the thing. I think Brexit a category error of the first order and campaigned hard against it. It’s a self-inflicted wound.

        I also think the UK Government has done as badly as any country on a) the economy and b) the number of deaths.

        But I can also hold in my head that they have done well on vaccines. The UK data is dramatic and unquestionable. And for European countries to ignore the positive impact of delaying the second dose so as to enable the vaccination of as many as possible – and the widespread use of the successful AZ vaccine for as many as possible including the over 65s – breaks my heart.

        My wife’s 91-year-old grandmother lives in Finisterre. Still waiting for her vaccine. If she lived in the UK she would have had hers in December.

        One last point Rob. I have a friend who got covid in March last year. Before he got it he was fit, mountain biked/road biked most days.

        Now he’s debilitated and can’t work. We need to weigh the balance rationally. One day feeling a bit off vs the dangers of serious illness, death or long Covid? It’s not a choice at all. Cheers.

        1. I think you are missing the point of my comment as well as that of the article. Overstretched medical staff cannot afford to be off work…the side effects of this particular vaccine are such that they are losing days to recover from it (some of them at any rate). So for them one of the other vaccines would be preferable. I have lost a few friends to covid since last year, so trust me I am well aware of its seriousness.

          As to your mother-in-law – why has she not got her vaccine? All of my friends over the age of 75 have…though as these have to be booked online some needed assistance to make the appointments. I also live in Finistere btw but at 45 years of age am unlikely to see a vaccine before the end of this year at the current pace of rollout.

          1. To answer your points.

            1. We simply cannot afford to pick and choose between vaccines in a crisis. Especially when France is short of vaccine overall. And especially when there is zero evidence of widespread side-effects in the UK – and huge evidence that the AZ vaccine works brilliantly. Even the article above refers to one day max. And if medical staff don’t take AZ, how on earth do they expect the general public to take it?

            2. I am really sorry you have lost friends. This is an awful situation and it has touched everyone. We all need light at the end of the tunnel

            3. She has been told she is not a priority – she’s an unusual lady, lives independently on her own. It’s an extraordinary and very stressful situation for my wife and her family and it’s very hard to see that happen vs medical staff refusing a vaccine.

            4. I hope (as a UK and French dual citizen) that France gets the programme up and running better very soon. We all have a huge stake in this. I wish you and yours the best.

      2. Just to clarify if I can, it was an ex-public schoolboy, who likes to sound dynamc by using what he thinks are go-getting phrases, who caused that gung-ho impression. The rest of the UK certainly doesn’t have that attitude. (In fact vast numbers in the UK are embarrassed beyond belief every time same ex-public schoolboy opens his mouth and those vast numbers would never even be at home with public school, male adolescent idioms. Actually the start of that interview segment showed him saying “there is a view that…”, so it wasn’t direct expression of his own thoughts but the impression stuck.)

  2. How much slower could this rollout possibly go?
    Covid tracker.fr estimating herd immunity by end of September 2023 at this point.

  4. Here are 12 important questions and answers before considering getting vaccinated:

    ●”If I get vaccinated can I stop wearing a mask(s)?”
    Government: “NO”
    ●”If I get vaccinated will the restaurants, bars, schools, fitness clubs, hair salons, etc. reopen and will people be able to get back to work like normal?
    Government: “NO”
    ●”If I get vaccinated will I be resistant to Covid?”
    Government: “Maybe. We don’t know exactly, but probably not.”
    ●”If I get vaccinated, at least I won’t be contagious to others – right?”
    Government: “NO. the vaccine doesn’t stop transmission.”
    ●”If I get vaccinated, how long will the vaccine last?”
    Government: “No one knows. All Covid “vaccines” are still in the experimental stage.”
    ● “If I get vaccinated, can I stop social distancing?”
    Government: “NO”
    ● “If my parents, grandparents and myself all get vaccinated can we hug each other again?”
    Government: “NO”
    ● “So what’s the benefit of getting vaccinated?”
    Government: “Hoping that the virus won’t kill you.”
    ●”Are you sure the vaccine won’t injure or kill me?”
    Government: “NO”
    ●”If statistically the virus won’t kill me (99.7% survival rate), why should I get vaccinated?”
    Government: “To protect others.”
    ●”So if I get vaccinated, I can protect 100% of people I come in contact with?”
    Government: “NO”
    ● “If I experience a severe adverse reaction, long term effects (still unknown) or die from the vaccine will I (or my family) be compensated from the vaccine manufacture or the Government?”
    Government: “NO – the government and vaccine manufactures have 100% zero liability regarding this experimental drug”
    So to summarize, the Covid19 “vaccine”…
    Does not provide immunity
    Does not eliminate the virus
    Does not prevent death
    Does not guarantee you won’t get it
    Does not stop you from passing it on to others
    Does not eliminate the need for travel bans
    Does not eliminate the need for business closures
    Does not eliminate the need for lockdowns
    Does not eliminate the need for masking
    If after reading this you still decide to get the “vaccine”…GOOD LUCK & DON’T SAY YOU WEREN’T WARNED

    And people who question this lunacy are called “crazy”.

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HEALTH

France’s Covid-19 app to be ‘put to sleep’

France's Covid-tracker app, used for months for the all-important 'health pass' will be switched off today, health officials have confirmed.

Published: 30 June 2023 13:29 CEST
France’s Covid-19 app to be 'put to sleep'

Covid-19 screening in France reaches an important milestone on Friday, June 30th, 2023 – when the TousAntiCovid app is officially ‘put to sleep’.

The app, which was launched in June 2020 as France came out of its first lockdown of the pandemic and has undergone a number of iterations, including as a delivery device for the health pass, will be switched off. 

For most people, this anniversary will pass without mention. Few people have consulted the app in recent months, and it has sat dormant on many smartphones since France’s Covid-19 health pass requirement was suspended in March 2022.

Meanwhile, the Système d’Informations de DEPistage (SI-DEP) interface – which has been informing people about their test results since the Spring of 2020 – is also being shut down on June 30th, as per legal requirements.

The SI-DEP shutdown means that it will also be impossible to retrieve Covid test certificates issued before June 30th, should the need arise. All data held by the database will be “destroyed”, officials have said.

It has handled more than 320 million antigen and PCR tests since it was introduced.

This does not mean that testing for Covid-19 has stopped, or is now unnecessary. As reported recently, more than 1,000 deaths a week in Europe are still caused by the virus.

The shutdown of the national information system does not mean that people in France cannot still book an appointment for an antigen test at a pharmacy, or a PCR test at a laboratory. But the number of people going for testing is declining rapidly. In recent days, according to Le Parisien, just 15,000 people in France took a Covid test – the lowest number, it said, since the pandemic started.

Reimbursement rules for testing changed on March 1st, with only certain categories of people – minors, those aged 65 and over, or immunosuppressed patients – covered for the entire cost of testing.

From Friday, only PCR test results will be transmitted to authorities for data purposes, meaning pharmacists that only offer antigen testing will be locked out of the online interface to record test results.

The reason for the shift in priorities is to maintain “minimal epidemiological surveillance”, the Ministry of Health has reportedly told scientists.

As a result test certificates, showing a positive or negative result, will no longer be issued from July 1st. Since February 1st, anyone taking a test has had to give consent to share their data in order to obtain a certificate. 

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