Illustration of an AstraZeneca vaccine.

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ELIOT BLONDET-POOL / SIPA

  • Many patients canceled their appointment in Nord-Pas-de-Calais this weekend.

    They did not want to be vaccinated with doses of AstraZeneca.

  • In detail, 550 did not find a taker on Saturday in Calais, 670 in Gravelines and 160 in Boulogne-sur-Mer.

  • "We really need a national campaign to explain that this vaccine has no more negative consequences than Pfizer or Moderna," said the mayor (LR) of Calais Natacha Bouchart.

“The AstraZeneca, I don't want it.

This weekend, many caregivers must have heard this sentence in the vaccination centers of Nord-Pas-de-Calais.

According to France Bleu Nord and

La Voix du Nord

, nearly 1,500 doses of this serum against Covid-19 remained in the fridges this weekend, for lack of volunteers to receive them.

In detail, 550 did not find a taker on Saturday in Calais, 670 in Gravelines and 160 in Boulogne-sur-Mer.

The mayor (LR) of Calais Natacha Bouchart spoke of a "wind of panic" among patients.

"It's been eight days since it started and Friday (when the British regulator of the drug said it had identified 30 cases of blood clots in people who received this vaccine), it was the coup de grace", summed up the elected official. .

She said she only has about 70 appointments scheduled for the next few days, while the slots for other vaccines fill up easily.

"We really need a national campaign to explain that this vaccine has no more negative consequences than Pfizer or Moderna", she adds, pointing to "very poor communication which has serious consequences", with cancellations appointment.

Darmanin to the rescue of the vaccine

This Sunday, during a visit to the racecourse of Marcq-en-Baroeul (North) transformed into a vaccination center, the Minister of the Interior of Gerald Darmanin took the pulse of this concern and tried to reassure.

"We must pay attention to the fears of the French," he noted, while stressing that vaccination was "the best bulwark against this virus which kills every day".

"It is obvious that all the vaccines which have been validated by the European and French health authorities are good vaccines", he insisted.

Center officials explained to the minister that "when 500 appointments are put online for the Pfizer vaccine, they leave in 5 minutes, while with AstraZeneca, it takes a day and a half, or even two days".

“All the doses that are delivered are injected.

We do not lose doses ”, assured this Sunday Arnaud Corvaisier, deputy director general of the ARS of Hauts-de-France.

"There is undoubtedly still some teaching to be done on this vaccine so that it can be considered like the others by a part of the population", he added, acknowledging "one or two somewhat complicated situations" this week-end.

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  • Health

  • Vaccine

  • AstraZeneca