Which vaccine strategy against Covid-19 ? Jean Castex presents the executive’s plan to The national assembly, a few weeks before the planned start of a campaign which inspires both mistrust and impatience in the French.
The Prime Minister and the Minister of Health Olivier Véran must speak to the deputies from 4:30 p.m., before a debate without a vote. The same exercise will then take place Thursday before the Senate, with a right-wing majority.
“The objective,” says Matignon, “is to play the card of total transparency, consultation and exchange, because that is how we will gain confidence. “
“Each Frenchman will be able to make up his own mind”, adds Assembly President Richard Ferrand (LREM), aware that mistrust is particularly strong in France, where 59,072 people have died from Covid-19 since the start of the epidemic.
One in two French people ready to be vaccinated
According to a survey by the French public health agency, only half (53%) of French people surveyed in November want to be vaccinated, against two thirds (64%) in July, a figure among the lowest in the world.
For the executive, this is a particularly sensitive subject that puts the entire government chain under pressure, after the mess about the masks and the tests.
“There will need a lot of transparency, clarity, details, on doses, delivery” and “who can vaccinate”, claims the socialist Boris Vallaud, who has the feeling that France “Is lagging behind” in the matter.
Olivier Véran had already outlined on December 3 the three phases of the future vaccination campaign: first in nursing homes in early January, then “Between February and March” for people with risk factors, then the campaign « grand public » from spring.
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According to Matignon, the debate in Parliament, which replaces the one planned on migration policy, should not provide any new information on this calendar and the details of the audiences concerned.
“Faster, stronger” elsewhere
During a lunch Tuesday, December 15 with the bosses of the groups of the National Assembly, Emmanuel Macron however raised the idea of launching the vaccination campaign on the same day in all European countries.
However, under pressure from Germany in particular, the European Medicines Agency announced Tuesday that it would finally look on December 21, a week earlier than expected, on the fate of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, paving the way for a possible start of vaccinations in Europe before the end of the year.
“We said that at European level, it would start at the same time. Hence the interest in pooling ”, it is emphasized in the entourage of the Head of State. History also to cut the grass under the feet of those who, like the leader of the UDI Jean-Christophe Lagarde, have “The feeling that things are going faster and stronger in other countries”.
We must “hold on”
However, there is no question of skipping steps, especially in a context of strong mistrust. In an interview on Wednesday December 16 at Parisian, Jean-François Delfraissy, Chairman of the Scientific Council, believes that “There is no urgent need to immunize the whole of France” and say that “It will take until the end of April, or even May, to immunize the 22 million French people most at risk”.
“The arrival of vaccines will have no impact on the first quarter of 2021 and very little on the second”, he adds, inviting the French to “Have a good time” faced with the risk of a third wave which “Is not negligible”.
Because if France came out of a second confinement on Tuesday, replaced by a night curfew since 8 p.m., there is, for the past week, an average of 12,000 new positive cases each day (11,500 Tuesday), well beyond the target of 5,000 daily cases set by the executive.
Jean Castex again on Tuesday warned against a relaxation during the holiday season which may “Be conducive to accelerated traffic” virus, suggesting that children who can do not go to school Thursday and Friday, taking up an idea from the Scientific Council.
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