In Toulouse, due to lack of demand, the largest vaccine park in Europe has just closed its doors
More than 660,000 doses have been administered at the former Toulouse exhibition center since March. Given the sharp drop in the number of candidates for the Covid vaccine, it has just closed.
This Saturday, the vaccine strategy deployed in Haute-Garonne since the beginning of the summer took a
new turning point. Faced with a drop in vaccine demand and the desire for a supply
more individualized proximity, the Toulouse vaccinodrome closed its doors after eight months of activity: this way in France, is behind us. It does not mean that the vaccination is over, on the contrary. The vaccination centers continue to work and afterwards we turn to the liberal professions ”explains François Chollet, deputy mayor in charge of the Covid. With more than 662,361 doses administered since its opening in March 2021, the Toulouse vaccinodrome, which was the largest vaccination center in Europe, has taken up the challenge of “vaccinating in numbers and in a short time”.
“On the farm at the right time”
If some 600 people were expected on Saturday, an average of 1,500 estimated doses per day has been recorded in recent weeks. A figure which shows, unsurprisingly, a decrease in needs with regard to the 12,000 daily injections administered this summer: “Last week, we were still doing 1500-1600 injections per day, it was little compared to this summer. This means that this closure is happening at the right time, ”affirms Henriette de Rijck van der Gracht, emergency doctor at the Toulouse University Hospital.
Among the “last” vaccinated, a majority of young adults and accompanied minors are shared with their definitive vaccination pass: “I have never been against the vaccine but I did not see the use of it before. I have health concerns and my doctor advised me to wait before getting vaccinated, the time to get treatment, ”says Nicolas, who came for his second dose.
Following the recommendation of the High Authority of Health to administer a 3rd dose to the most fragile, some of them, very disciplined, sometimes traveled several tens of kilometers to receive their vaccine: “I traveled 40 kilometers to come. , six months after my second. It is for me a necessity, a legal and moral obligation. I do it for myself, but above all for others, ”says Raymond, 90, proudly. The vaccination center at the Palais des Congrès Pierre Baudis remains open and a mobile team is also present on the Daurade site.