“Start by mid-May“the anti-covid vaccination of all obese people. This is what the government seems to be considering, according to the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, who recalled during a press conference on April 22, that obesity is” a risk factor for a severe form of covid.

“I therefore approached the scientific committees to determine when and under what conditions we will be able to open vaccination to French people who, despite being under 50, suffer from severe obesity. The answer will not be long. But it is likely that we can start by mid-May “he clarified.

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Between 45 and 47% obese in intensive care

And for good reason: according to the figures of Public health France of April 8, 2021, between 45 and 47% of patients admitted to intensive care between October 5, 2020 and April 6, 2021 presented with obesity, that is to say a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30. Associations of obese people have therefore been demanding for months access to vaccination for all obese people.

To date, only obese people over 50 are eligible for vaccination. Obesity is indeed in the list of comorbidities that open since February 25 vaccination to people over 50 who suffer from it.

“This exclusion of the vaccine target is not consistent”

In a column published in the JDD on February 27, Anne-Sophie Joly, president of the National Collective of Obese Associations (CNAO) was indignant: “Face [aux 47% de patients obèses en réanimation], how to accept the government’s vaccination schedule which places people suffering from obesity in the third stage, at best in June, when they should be a priority? “

Two months later, the lines have not changed. “For associations as for doctors, this exclusion of the vaccine target is not consistent and poses a risk to the health of obese people.“the CNAO still worried in a tweet dated April 20.

BMI over 35

The promise of opening vaccination to obese people from mid-May is therefore a “satisfaction“, recognizes Anne-Sophie Joly, interviewed by France Info this April 23. But satisfaction will only be “complete” than “when we have the definitive vaccination agreement“, she continues.

If Olivier Véran’s announcements materialize, the vaccination opened in mid-May would be reserved for “severely obese“, that is, whose BMI is greater than 35.