Olivier VeranThe Minister of Health visits the CheckPoint Paris prevention center -

LOUISE MERESSE / DICOM / SIPA

Last breath before confining himself and attacking home school: Easter weekend draws to a close on Monday, with a new wave of restrictions in an attempt to curb the Covid-19 epidemic.

This Monday, on the 1 p.m. TV news from TF1, Olivier Véran, Minister of Health, justified these measures by the deterioration of the health situation.

The situation remains tense, he begins, "since every day, on average, 40,000 French people are tested positive for the coronavirus".

"Two maps of France are emerging"

“Two cards are emerging,” he continues.

In the east, the epidemic and health tension is high, but we are seeing the first tremors that will have to be consolidated.

In the west, the level of epidemic tension is lower, but the dynamic, on the other hand, stronger.

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For Olivier Véran then, “this comforts us in the idea of ​​having applied restrictive measures to the whole country since we are thus going to prevent the west of the country from joining the very problematic situation known to the east.

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The peak of contaminations reached during the week?

If the Minister of Health hopes that France will reach the peak of contamination of this third wave in the week, he does not expect a drop in hospitalizations by the end of April.

"There is always a two to three week gap between the peak of contamination and the peak of severe cases," he recalls.

Even with the entry into force of these new restriction measures, since April 3, "in the next three weeks, whatever happens, the number of patients in intensive care will continue to increase, mechanically", warns Olivier Véran .

Until reaching 7,000 patients in intensive care as during the peak of the first wave?

The Minister of Health does not rule out this hypothesis.

Today there are 5,400 in the country.

Not a logistics problem, but a delivery issue

On the vaccination side, Olivier Véran announced Monday that 2 million French people had been vaccinated in one week.

According to him, the country "has no logistics issue, but vaccine delivery," he said on TF1.

He assures that 10 million doses will have been inoculated by mid-April, as planned by the government.

This objective will even be anticipated "by a few days".

Asked about vaccination centers that are idling due to a lack of doses of vaccine against covid-19, Olivier Véran assured that there was no problem of "logistics", but of delivery.

“We made the choice to vaccinate just in time.

Yes, there are times when there are no more doses in the fridges, ”he said.

Multiplication of large vaccination centers

The government is showing its confidence in the supplies hoped for from pharmaceutical laboratories to achieve this objective.

And also expects a multiplication of centers and staff to administer them.

We expect the arrival of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires a single injection, in mid-April, with 600,000 first doses before May.

They should easily find takers, while the AstraZeneca vaccine remains weighed down by doubts about its safety, despite assurances from health authorities.

As for vaccinators, the French army training hospitals will increase their reception capacities to vaccinate up to 50,000 people per week, the Ministry of the Armed Forces announced on Saturday evening.

Large vaccination centers will also multiply in the region.

Like the Stade de France which will welcome its first volunteers on Tuesday, with a first objective of 10,000 injections per week.

To better trace the evolution of the epidemic, self-tests will be available in pharmacies from April 12.

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  • Olivier Véran

  • Health

  • Coronavirus

  • Covid 19

  • Vaccination