France: a vaccination campaign for the general public "between April and June"
French President Emmanuel Macron during a joint statement with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo after a meeting at the Élysée Palace in Paris on December 1, 2020. REUTERS - BENOIT TESSIER
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France is considering a vaccination campaign for the general public "between April and June" against Covid-19, after a first phase reserved for the most vulnerable people, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday.
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"
It will not be a
compulsory vaccination
strategy
but a strategy of conviction and transparency
", reaffirmed the Head of State, during a press briefing with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo .
Emmanuel Macron plans for early 2021 "
a first highly targeted campaign, with first-generation vaccines
", followed by a second wave "
which will open somewhere between April and June
" and "
which will be wider and more general public and who will move towards a strategy of vaccination of the greatest number
”.
This is a very good strategy, according to Prof. Stéphane Paul, member of the Covid vaccine committee at the Ministry of Health and Research.
I think that indeed this is the best strategy that is achievable with the number of doses that have been reserved for the moment ...
Pr Stéphane Paul, member of the Covid Vaccine Committee at the Ministry of Health and Research
Olivier Chermann
A first phase "as
soon as possible
"
The first phase of the vaccination will take place "as soon as possible" after the approvals of the European health authorities, between late December and early January.
It will be carried out, added the president, with vaccines "
on which we have little perspective and whose storage and logistical conditions are quite complex, –80 or –20 degrees at this stage, and which we will rather reserve to the most sensitive audiences
”.
Professor Stéphane Paul also insists on the importance of reassuring and convincing the population.
I think that indeed this is the best strategy that is achievable with the number of doses that have been reserved for the moment ...
Pr Stéphane Paul, member of the Covid Vaccine Committee at the Ministry of Health and Research
Olivier Chermann
Mutualization between European countries
The doses have been reserved at the level of the European Commission, recalled Emmanuel Macron.
These vaccines will be allocated, produced and sent to each country as part of a European strategy, then the vaccine strategy will be determined at national level by each Member State, he stressed.
“
There will not be a battle between European countries
” thanks to this pooling, added Mr. De Croo, but “
vaccinating hundreds of millions of Europeans”
will take
“several months
”.
► To read also: Covid-19: a vaccine at what price?
Residents of nursing homes vaccinated as a priority
The French health authorities recommended Monday to vaccinate as a priority the residents of Ehpad (retirement homes for dependent people), setting the timetable for a delicate campaign for the government, which will have to convince the reluctant, many in France, and ensure logistics flawless.
With over 16 000 deaths among their residents, 52 000 deaths in total since the epidemic began in March, and draconian restrictions family visits the
nursing home
have paid a very heavy price for the epidemic of Covid- 19.
(With
AFP
)
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