The National Consultative Ethics Committee favors the “recommendation” of the vaccination of caregivers outside the context of a crisis.
On Tuesday July 11, the National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE) estimated that thevaccination obligation of caregivers maybe “legit” in the event of a health crisis potentially jeopardizing the healthcare system.
In fact, CCNE favors only the “recommendation” in a current context.
CCNE’s opinion after that of HAS
Last March, the High Authority for Health (HAS) gave a favorable opinion on the lifting of this obligation relating to Covid, and in the process the government announced the return of unvaccinated personnel.
The executive had requested CCNE’s opinion on this obligation concerning health professionals and professionals working in the health and medico-social sectors.
Vaccination, not the only prevention tool
The advisory opinion of the Ethics Committee emphasizes that the protection of patients is “a major imperative for caregivers”. But also, that vaccination cannot be considered as the only prevention tool, because other measures such as wearing a mask or ventilation must be implemented.
And two situations must be differentiated: the context “fluent” And the one of “health crisis”. So, “in the event of a health crisis potentially jeopardizing the healthcare system”in the presence of a solid scientific corpus which guarantees the effectiveness (even moderate) and the harmlessness of the vaccine concerned, the CCNE judges that the decision of an obligation to vaccinate for caregivers “may be legit”.
And in the “current” context?
In the other case, the Ethics Committee favors the use of simple “vaccination recommendations”with the exception of vaccines that have demonstrated a very high risk-benefit ratio, such as that against hepatitis B, which may remain mandatory.
Jean-François Delfraissy, who heads the Ethics Committee, told AFP:
There is a clear distinction between a period of crisis, in which a binding political decision can be taken, and a period of non-crisis, where it is necessary to try to go through a simple recommendation.
In other words, the obligation to vaccinate caregivers cannot be considered “as a last resort”. He adds that caregivers need to discuss this, because “We need more information around this subject, so as not to leave this issue taboo”.