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How to book an appointment for the Covid-19 vaccine in France
As France opens up its Covid-19 vaccination programme, here is how to go about registering for the injection.
France's vaccine programme has a strict priority order with those most vulnerable to developing the most serious forms of the virus going first.
At present the vaccine is only available to certain groups in France: residents and staff in the country's Ehpad nursing homes and medical staff aged 50 or over.
However from Monday, 18th January it expanded to two more groups - over 75s and people with serious underlying health conditions including cancer patients and transplant patients.
People in those two groups can start booking appointments now.
Over 75s should be getting a letter from their doctor inviting them to be vaccinated but there is no need to wait for the letter before making an appointment.
People under 75 but in a high risk group need to make an appointment first with their doctor to get a prescription for vaccination.
The next group on the priority list is the 65-74 year-olds, which is expected in February, although a date has not yet been set.
After that there is a strict order based on priority groups, with vaccines for the general population set to be rolled out out in the spring.
The goal is to have vaccinated 1 million by the end of January, which the government says it is on target to meet. By 13th January, 247,167 people had received the injection in France.
To speed up the process, the French government has opened up for several platforms to sign up for the injection.
How to sign up
There are now several ways of signing up to get the Covid-19 vaccine:
Online
Medical apps (Doctolib, Maiia and KelDoc)
By phone
With your doctor
Online
The government's website Sante.fr went live on Thursday but crashed due to overwhelming demand. After some work the strength the site, it back up from 8am on Friday, 15th January.
When signing up, users will have to enter the name of their town or city, to get a list with the vaccination centres closest to them.
France aims to have some 700 vaccination centres of by the end of the month, at least six in each département. Health authorities will also offer assistance to those living in remote areas far from vaccination centres.
At the appointment, before getting the injection, medical workers will ask everyone to fill out a health questionnaire and a consent form.
When explaining the process, Véran said: "A doctor, or any other carer, will ask you a few questions and you will asked to fill out a very simple self-questionnaire, which will just aim to verify that you can be vaccinated in the usual fashion."
A doctor or nurse in a vaccination centre will then give the injection.
After the vaccine, everyone will be asked to stay in the vaccination centre for 15 minutes, in case of any side effects, before going home.
The second dose of the vaccination will be given three to six weeks after the first and you make the second appointment immediately after getting the first dose.
Any side effects should be reported to signalement.social-sante@gouv.fr or to your own doctor.
You will need to take a piece of ID with you to the appointment.
Medical apps
The medical app Doctolib began offering appointments for priority groups on Wednesday evening.
Two similar platforms, Maiia and KelDoc, also got the green light from the government to launch sign-up procedures. Signing up with Maiia became possible on Wednesday, while KelDoc has not yet released its procedure.
Doctolib is already widely used to book other types of appointment including regular doctors' appointments and Covid tests.
It is available on both iPhones and android. Once you have downloaded the app you will need to register with your details plus an email address and phone number.
You can then click on the vaccination section and make an appointment. You will be offered a list of vaccination centres which can also be viewed on a map to find the closest.
If the app is not showing a vaccination centre near you it does not necessarily mean that there isn't one - the app is still going through the process of registering all centres to its online appointment book. If there are none showing near you you can either wait a couple of days and try again or book through the sante.fr website.
The procedure at the appointment will be the same as the one outlined above - everyone will have to fill out a health questionnaire and consent form before getting the injection from a doctor or nurse in a vaccination centre.
By phone
The government has created a hotline where people can call in to make an appointment with a vaccine centre close to them.
The number is 0800 009 110 and it opened from 8am on Friday, 15th January.
With your doctor
Those preferring to get the vaccine injection from their usual family doctor may do so, but this option will not be available until later when France has other types of vaccine in stock.
The current Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine must be stored at -70C, which presents serious logistical problems for GPs.
However it is now possible to sign up for a doctor's appointment in advance of getting the vaccine in order to discuss any concerns regarding the vaccine procedure, especially for those with allergies.
Post
People over 75 will also receive a form by mail, just like they do every year when the influenza vaccine campaign starts, indicating the vaccination centres in their area.
"From January 22nd and onwards, those concerned should receive a letter with information regarding the centres around them," an official told French newspaper La Croix.
Carte vitale
Registration within the French health system is not necessary to make a vaccine appointment, although you will have to pay for the injections if you don't have a carte vitale.
If you are in the process of registering for a carte vitale but have not yet received the card, ask for a feuille de soins - this form will allow you to claim the cost of the vaccine back later when you get the card.
For people with a card, the vaccine is free.
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