Vaccine deployment faces challenges in the poorest regions of France

Saint-Denis, France (AP) — Born and raised in Saint-Denis and working as a nurse, Sami Adridi fears a poor town, remembering how the coronavirus paved a particularly deadly path through the diverse regions of northern Paris. I am. Cemetery of French kings buried in a magnificent cathedral.

Dridi and her sister took a frail 92-year-old Algerian-born mother to the first vaccination center for two vaccinations to protect her from COVID.

France’s national vaccination deployment has been delayed due to red tape, consent requirements and supply issues, but the Seine-Saint-Denis region has a special feature of preventing the virus and immunizing people when it is their turn. I am facing a challenge.

It is the poorest region in mainland France, with the highest mortality rate in the country last spring, mainly due to COVID-19. Up to 75% of the population are immigrants or have immigrant roots, and their inhabitants speak about 130 different languages. Healthcare is substandard, has 2-3 times fewer beds than in other areas, and has a higher incidence of chronic illness. Many are indispensable workers in supermarkets, public health and health care.

Coronavirus was initially widely seen as an excellent equalizer to infect the rich and the poor. However, subsequent research shows that some people, especially the elderly, other long-term ill people, and the poor, often live on the edge of mainstream societies, like non-French-speaking immigrants. There is.

Dridi, 56, a nurse for over 30 years, is now reassured that there is no significant evolution of the virus in her town. But she doesn’t forget what happened when the pandemic first occurred.

“We had a COVID for the whole family,” she said. Many people live together in small apartments for multiple generations. According to experts, it is a common deteriorating factor in the region.

Despite these tragic memories, local authorities have vaccinated many people who do not speak French, do not have regular medical care, and who, like many in France, do not trust the safety of the vaccine. We are tackling the special challenge of disseminating information about.

Next month, buses will travel the area, especially to the street market, to provide vaccination information. In addition, starting in March, approximately 40 multilingual “vaccination ambassadors” will be trained to contact about vaccinations and the “fake news” around them.

A good example is Youssef Zaui, 32, an Algerian who lives in Sandoni.

“I’ve heard that vaccination is much more dangerous than a virus,” said Zaoui, who sits behind the cathedral. His proof that he doesn’t have to worry about the virus: a butcher on the road and a man selling cigarettes nearby. They were there at the beginning of March. “And they’re still here …. I, I’m still here,” he said.

Can vaccines change the flow of inequality reflected in local mortality statistics?

“Everyone needs to be vaccinated before the vaccine can be a good equalizer,” said Patrick Simon, who co-authored a study on the vulnerability of Seine-Saint-Denis minorities to COVID-19 last June. .. But he said the challenge of access to health care for communities left out of society continues, “so these inequality will be replicated in vaccines.”

While the French health care system aims to provide access to health care for all, bureaucratic demands and out-of-pocket costs often scare new migrants and the very poor. Government health guidance does not always reach people outside the system.

As a nurse at the Municipal Health Center, Dridi sees in advance the poverty that leads to vulnerability to the coronavirus.

“I’m injecting, shot put, bandaging … and some people say,’I live in a car, I’m in the street,'” she said.

The misery was not apparent at the vaccination center where Doridy’s mother shot her — a recent visit by Sandoni’s luckier person, who lives in a private home, out of 17 opened throughout the region last week. It was seen. Some people took a cane and invaded the center or supported it with their arms. A couple appeared on the scooter. Everyone was enthusiastic about vaccination.

They were one of the lucky ones. As in France and elsewhere in Europe, appointments were reduced after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine dose allocation was reduced.

“I’m lucky to be vaccinated today,” said one woman who shed tears. She was infected with COVID-19 during treatment at a private clinic in April and died of the virus in October after being infected at the hospital where she was treated after the fall.

The woman who didn’t reveal her name told Doridy and her sister to take care of her mother because “she is your treasure.”

For Dridi, seeing people die on COVID-19 can be a game changer.

“Some people say no (to get vaccinated) because they have no contact with death,” Dridi said. But death is “that’s what makes you react.”