New Information System: What Impact on Data?

To collect the information needed to track the progress of vaccination in France, a provisional data reporting system was set up at the start of the vaccination campaign. At the same time, the French Health Insurance Agency developed a database, Vaccin Covid, which is now fully operational following an analysis of the data’s completeness and accuracy.

Based on the analysis of this data, Santé Publique France is now publishing vaccination coverage indicators as open data.
Between January 16 and 22, 97% of the doses administered were recorded in Vaccin Covid, and more than 90% since the start of the vaccination campaign.

While new vaccinations are now being entered in real time into Vaccin Covid, some vaccinations administered since late December have not yet been retroactively entered into the system. In some regions, Vaccin Covid data is now more complete than the data reported by the ARS, but in others this is not yet the case—particularly in Île-de-France, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The data, which will now be published daily based on the date of administration, will reflect this catch-up. As
this gap is expected to narrow, the coverage rate in Vaccin Covid is deemed sufficient for this system to replace the ARS’s daily reporting for the epidemiological monitoring of vaccination coverage.

A set of indicators for more detailed vaccination monitoring

Data from the Vaccin Covid information system make it possible to count, in near real time (D-1), the number of people who have received a COVID-19 vaccine dose, taking into account the number of doses received, age, sex, and geographic level (national and regional). Using this aggregated data and applying it to the French population (INSEE data), Santé publique France will also be able to provide estimates of COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the general population, taking into account the same criteria (age groups, gender, and geographic level).

The first indicators available for free access on the Géodes platform today concern the daily number of people who have received at least one dose, by date of vaccination, by age, and by gender, as well as the cumulative total. These are broken down at the national and regional levels.

The cumulative number of people who have received at least one vaccine dose at the national level is included in the dashboard on the agency’s website. Additionally, these indicators will be analyzed in the weekly epidemiological reports.

An expansion of open data indicators

These initial indicators will be expanded over time. By mid-February, these indicators will be broken down by age group and gender, and other variables will be included, such as two-dose vaccination and the vaccine used.

Eventually, the data will be presented separately for each vaccine and by number of doses administered. These elements will be particularly useful for developing vaccine efficacy indicators.

In addition, it will also be possible to track vaccination coverage for certain target groups: healthcare professionals, residents, and staff at nursing homes for dependent elderly individuals (EHPAD) and long-term care facilities (USLD). To monitor vaccination coverage among other specific populations, Santé publique France is exploring the possibility of implementing dedicated surveillance systems or studies.

The availability of these new, reliable, and expert-reviewed indicators helps ensure the public is well-informed and supports the management of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.