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Very high risk patients can be vaccinated now. But the others, with yet sometimes heavy handicaps? Associations are trying to sensitize the government. But the supply of doses remains a major obstacle...

• By Handicap.fr / E. Dal'Secco

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If the French have for a while seemed reluctant to get vaccinated against the Coronavirus (article in link below), much more so than our European neighbours, the vaccine rush has well and truly begun. On January 14, 2021, 56% said they were now in favor according to the latest polls.

Disability: new priorities

The vaccination campaign is now changing gear and its schedule is changing day by day. After the elderly accommodated in nursing homes, it is the turn of new audiences, since January 18, 2021, to be able to claim “the saving injection” (articles linked below). These are, in particular, the over 75s at home, disabled people welcomed in FAM (Medicalised Foster Homes) and MAS (Specialized Foster Homes) and staff aged 50 and over and/or with accompanying comorbidities, as well as patients "at very high risk of developing serious forms of Covid-19" on medical prescription without age criteria. Even if "the choices were made on a scientific basis", according to France Assos health, which considers them "reasonable", these 850,000 people, of all ages, do not represent all chronic patients.

Which diseases and disabilities?

Within this new category brought up in phase 1 of the vaccination schedule, certain disabilities and disabling diseases are concerned: trisomy 21, very high-risk neuromuscular diseases or rare diseases ( myopathy, ALS, rare liver disease, etc.). The complete list published by the Ministry of Health (linked below), necessarily restrictive, is therefore not enough to meet all expectations and appease all anxieties. Jean Luc Corne, health referent of the APHPP (National Association for the consideration of disability in public and private policies), is on the front line. Even if he agrees that "the government's will is to save the lives of people at very high risk initially given the lack of vaccines", this liberal physiotherapist, disability specialist, has to face fear and the incomprehension of some of his patients. He therefore says he is "reassured" that this list is "sufficiently vague"... According to him, "the attending physician and hospital can in his soul and conscience assess the real life risk on a case-by-case basis and therefore issue, or not, the medical certificate for priority vaccination.

Autism, the alarm bell

Some associations are making their voices heard to claim their share of the precious "booty". SOS autisme France was one of the first to sound the alarm, calling for people with autism (adolescents or adults), especially those with chronic illnesses, immune deficiencies or even pulmonary fragility, to be able to join this first phase. The association takes the example of Israel, where “people with disabilities were vaccinated as a priority, even before health personnel”. She questioned the Secretary of State on this subject. The position of APF France handicap is intended to be more moderate, welcoming, first of all, the progress of vaccination for people in establishments: “We would like all those with vulnerabilities to be able to be vaccinated. Nevertheless, in view of the shortage of vaccines and the logistical conditions, we must resolve to accept prioritization criteria that take into account the realities of mortality in the general population and the risks of contamination. “This question is “at the heart of the concerns” of our associations which act in the field of disability, assures France Assos Santé, which says to ensure, in connection with the Ministry of Health and the orientation council for the vaccine strategy, “ that the prioritization is not discriminatory”. For its part, the Apajh, even if it welcomes an important step, pleads for a "massive and rapid vaccination of people with disabilities". Like the French Federation of Diabetics, the Apajh denounces an “unclear vaccination strategy” and “several questions are indeed struggling to find concrete and formal answers”. The first: when can these vulnerable people all be vaccinated?

And family caregivers?

The Apajh also claims a “rapid opening of vaccination to their relatives” in order to protect this “particularly involved” public. Same story on the side of AFM-Téléthon in favor of family caregivers, the association ensuring that it is "fighting to change this decision and allow their prioritization". Jean Luc Corne in turn confirms the "despair of relatives who tremble at the idea of ​​bringing back the Covid-19 when they go out to shop or work...". Remember that home help professionals are part of the priority targets of January 18; FEDEPSAD also calls on home healthcare providers, caregivers and technicians, “to get vaccinated as soon as possible in dedicated centres”. For SOS autisme France, many relatives assuming a real role of “carers” should also be able to benefit from the same priorities, at least one of the two parents. "In the event of Covid of this one, the child whose autonomy is reduced would find himself totally helpless", justifies Olivia Cattan, its president. Finally, for Handicap zero, the problem is elsewhere. The association regrets, for blind and visually impaired people who have comorbidities or are very old at home, "complicated" appointment booking procedures: saturation of the single call number, inaccessibility of appointment booking platforms in line…

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