The Minister of Health believes that France is on the right track and that “vaccination is a game-changer.”
While this Saturday began the new coercive measures applied in 16 French departments, Olivier Véran takes stock. Like Emmanuel Macron who refuses to talk about a new confinement, the Minister of Health does not wish to use this term in an interview given this Saturday to the Parisian. “I refuse to talk about containment simply because it is not one”, he begins, while assuring “that we will overcome this epidemic wave, I am sure of it.”
“This term reminds the French of the difficult weeks they spent locked up at home. The situation is different. If I had to improvise a slogan it would be: ‘To breathe out to breathe, to distance oneself to protect themselves'”, explains t -he.
“We do not bet with the health of the French”
As a strong message, Olivier Véran wished to recall that the executive “does not prevent the population from going out. […] so as not to crack. The new measures bridge the gap between physical and mental health in the face of a lasting epidemic. “
Regarding other coercive measures in the weeks or even months to come if the epidemic continued in France, the minister recalled that he did not “want a second” confinement.
“We take measures, territorialized, when they are necessary. The weeks ahead of us will be difficult, the wave is rising. But I can guarantee that vaccination is a game-changer, the mortality of the elderly is falling,” he adds, optimistically. .
Asked about the policy led by the President of the Republic, the latter assures him, “we do not bet with the health of the French.”
“But if it was a bet, it is a winner for me. We avoided confinement at a time when our neighbors were doing it. Germany closed its schools and shops for almost three months. The same in Italy, in England. .[…] So we did well to wait. “
“Safe and efficient”
In this same interview, Olvivier Véran also took stock of the current vaccination in France and the immunization of 50-64 year olds by April. “Our priority is that in mid-April, 10 million French people received a first injection. I also want us to finish vaccinating the oldest and most vulnerable, some of whom are still waiting for a niche,” he insists.
Regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Minister of Health persists and signs it is safe and effective.
“According to the French and European scientific authorities, it is safe and effective. They say that we can go for it unequivocally among the over 55s,” he concludes.
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