France massively increases its annual flu vaccine campaign

The French flu vaccination campaign will start on October 13th, French Health Minister Olivier Véran told RTL.

“For the first time, in addition to orders from pharmacies, we have secured state orders and we have 30 percent more vaccine doses than in previous years,” he said in a speech to the Senate on the health management of the Covid-19 epidemic.

“We must be extremely careful with the vaccination of vulnerable groups and caregivers,” Olivier Véran added.

Earlier this year, the French National Academy of Medicine asked the government to make the flu vaccine compulsory for healthcare workers in order to reduce the saturation of hospital services by adding severe cases flu to cases of Covid-19.

Flu shots are usually available from either doctors of pharmacies in France, but Assurance Maladie will publish the full details for this year’s campaign in October, outlining where people can get vaccinated.