- AP-HM vaccinated its first caregivers against the coronavirus on Tuesday, including Michèle Rubirola, now president of the supervisory board of Marseille hospitals
- Until now, the doses were slow in coming: the AP-HM has not received its 15. 000 doses that Tuesday in the morning.
“I’m afraid of injections, so I won’t look. “. On the second floor of the building which presides over the site of the Timone , the one reserved for occupational medicine, Michèle Rubirola has childish airs. For his first public outing since his resignation , the former mayor of
Marseille , now the first assistant in charge of health and president of the supervisory board of the Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Marseille (AP-HM), is preparing to be one of the first Marseille caregivers to be get vaccinated against the coronavirus, a few hours after the AP-HM has received the first doses of the precious sesame.
“I was told that you were against vaccines”, launches, teasing, Jean-Olivier Arnault, president of the board of the AP-HM, who has just received his dose. In a tweet from 1125 which had resurfaced during the electoral campaign, the doctor of the northern districts had supported Professors Joyeux and Montagnier in their campaign against compulsory vaccines. The former mayor is annoyed. ” I never said that. I said I was against injecting eleven vaccines at one time into a newborn baby. But all my children are vaccinated. “.
Doses of vaccine that were long overdue
And to launch: “For this vaccine, I took the time to reflect. I have consulted competent friends around me. And the benefit outweighs the risk. I am a doctor over 45 years old, with pathologies, and I have to stay in shape. I still have family responsibilities! “The former mayor is in fact facing serious health problems which prompted him to resign.
Like her, a hundred AP-HM caregivers were vaccinated this Tuesday, after several days of somewhat chaotic waiting. “I was told the arrival of doses last week,” says Pierre Bertrand-Perres, pharmacist and head of department at Timone. The Ministry of Health was convinced that I had received 5. . But I had nothing before this morning. It was not very smart to do that between Christmas and New Year’s Day, everyone is on vacation … But hey. The pharmacist takes out his calculator. “We finally received 000. 625 doses and we will have 9. 625 per week. It still makes ammunition! “
A campaign organized in a few days
In just a few days, the AP-HM had to organize the possible vaccination campaign for these caregivers. ” We have 123 super-freezers at the AP-HM, and we were given a dedicated to vaccination, explains Pierre Pinzelli, secretary general of the Marseille University Hospital. We also have two backups. We receive the doses which we then distribute among the pharmacies of our four sites. »Nearly 5. people working at AP-HM are eligible for vaccination, i.e. one third of the total workforce. “But we know that we will not have 50% ”, affirms Pierre Pinzelli.
Lionel Velly, he did not hesitate for a second to be vaccinated. Since last March, this resuscitator anesthetist in a Covid unit in La Timone has been at the forefront, despite himself, of the epidemic. “When we see the damage this disease has on our patients in intensive care…, he sighs. People from 20 years ! We can be skeptical about climate change, but against the coronavirus, we have no other solutions than the vaccine… ”According to the regional health agency, the positivity rate in the Paca region is on the rise this week: 6 , 5% against 3.5% last week.
First vaccination in nursing homes Thursday
In Bouches-du-Rhône, the first vaccinations in nursing homes will only take place this Thursday. They will concern an establishment in Allauch, at the gates of Marseille. The ARS then promises to increase in intensity, until all volunteers in nursing homes in the region are vaccinated within a month and a half.