France: transport of Covid-19 vaccines placed under very close surveillance
The Minister of Health Olivier Véran in front of a box containing doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on December 22, 2020 © AP - Geoffroy Van der Hasselt
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
The European Union is preparing to launch its vaccination campaign against Covid-19.
From Sunday, December 27, Germany and France, among others, will be the first countries to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The first doses should arrive this Saturday, from Belgium where they are produced during transport under very close surveillance.
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“The vaccine against Covid-19 is liquid gold”.
"
The mafia and other criminal organizations are already ready
."
The warning comes from the head of Interpol who said earlier this week, expect a "
dramatic
"
increase
in crime.
Thefts, burglaries of warehouses, attacks during the transport of vaccines, but also corruption to "
obtain the precious remedy more quickly
".
Jurgen Stock painted a very dark picture.
To this already long list, the French authorities add the fear of terrorist attacks and “anti-vaccine” sabotage operations.
Unmarked drone and police car escorts
The trucks which will transport the bottles will therefore be escorted by unmarked police cars or drones, if the prefect deems it necessary.
Their itineraries which will be revealed at the last minute and must have been transmitted to the authorities.
Drivers are only allowed to stop for a few minutes, and not yet at the busiest motorway areas.
► Read also: Vaccine against Covid-19: BioNTech, story of an ascent
The surveillance of storage sites - the address of which remains a secret - and anti-intrusion devices have of course been reinforced.
Finally, each actor in the supply chain had to check their IT protection system to avoid any possible cyberattack.
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