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The French government was criticized on Wednesday for the slow progress of the effort to vaccinate people against Covid-19, a problem exacerbated by the high levels of public protest about the campaign.
France on Sunday joined several other EU countries in launching vaccines with the Pfizer-BioNTech injection, targeting first attempts at former residents of care homes.
But in the first three days of the campaign less than 100 people were given the injection – compared to 42,000 so far in Germany – raising questions about the government’s cautious approach to vaccinating a moderate population. very doubtful.
France ‘s strategy “does not respond to such a dangerous situation,” said Axel Kahn, a prominent geneticist who leads the National League against Cancer on European radio 1.
Kahn said the government should try to persuade lazy people to be surrounded by “transparency and commitment”.
“We need to protect the French people and the vulnerable.”
He also demanded that health workers be moved to the top of the queue for the injection, over the elderly.
Britain, which started vaccinations with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine three weeks ahead of the EU, has vaccinated hundreds of thousands of people, and more than a million have been injected in the United States.
Philippe Juvin, head of emergency services at Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris, said there did not appear to be a national “vaccination strategy” in France.
“As an individual, I would like to get the vaccine, give an example, and show people that we do not die from the vaccine, we die from Covid. And when we do not die, we get hard forms that are good enabling, “he told CNews TV channel.
‘Taking time’
An opinion poll on a vaccine license conducted by Ipsos Global Advisor in partnership with the World Economic Forum highlighted the obstacles facing the government in achieving full protectionism.
It showed that only 40 per cent of French people want to be vaccinated.
This places France well behind other developed countries such as Britain at 77 per cent and the United States at 69 per cent.
Speaking on France 2 television late Tuesday, Health Minister Olivier Veran defended the more measurable pace in France, saying officials were taking time to get people into the idea of getting vaccinated.
“It will take a little longer to move forward,” he said, adding that he planned to capture the rest of the world by the end of January.
Criticizing criticism on social media, a health ministry official said: “We have not gone out for a 100-meter sprint but a marathon.”
In tweets on Sunday welcoming the release of the vaccine, President Emmanuel Macron had referred to widespread suspicion of vaccination in France.
He said that “reason and science must guide us” in the home country of Louis Pasteur, the 19th century scientist who discovered the principles of vaccination.
“Vaccination is not mandatory. Trust our specialists and doctors,” Macron said.
(AFP)