D-Day has arrived: around twenty elderly people and caregivers will be the first French people to be vaccinated, Sunday, December 27, against Covid-19, at the end of a year mourning by a virus that has made more than 62,500 dead in the country.

After the green light given on December 21 to the product of the American Pfizer and the German BioNTech by the European Union, almost all of its member states are simultaneously launching their vaccination campaign, opened one day in advance by Germany, Hungary and Slovakia.

The vaccine, sent to France on Saturday under good escort, was particularly expected in France, where the virus is actively circulating and the presence of its British variant, possibly more contagious, was confirmed on Friday in a patient.

"We cannot afford to let the epidemic flare up again," the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, warned in the Sunday Journal.

Asked about the possibility of a third confinement, he said he was ready to take "the necessary measures, if the situation were to worsen".

Anyway, Olivier Véran sees "very good news" in the launch of the vaccination campaign.

A symbolic launch

"This vaccine protects 95% of individuals against cases of severe form and will save many lives," said the minister, satisfied to be able "to start protecting the most fragile among us".

The symbolic launch of the French vaccine campaign takes place on Sunday in two accommodation facilities for the elderly, one located in Seine-Saint-Denis, a department which has paid a heavy price for the Covid, the other in Bourgogne-Franche- County, one of the regions with the highest incidence rate of the virus.

> Read also: In Seine-Saint-Denis, the Covid-19 has reinforced the distress of the most vulnerable

 In the morning, around ten residents over 75 years old from the long-term care unit of René-Muret hospital in Sevran (Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris), as well as one of their doctors over 65 years old, will receive a first dose of the vaccine.

At the beginning of the afternoon, it will be the turn of another ten residents of the geriatric center of Champmaillot, dependent on the Dijon University Hospital, and a specialist doctor over the age of 65, to receive in turn the Pfizer-BioNTech, named Comirnaty in reference to the technology used (messenger RNA).

The ramp-up of the vaccination campaign will be gradual: next week it will concern 23 establishments in the regions of Paris, Lyon, Lille and Tours, before intensifying to reach around a hundred places in the first two weeks of January.

One million vaccinated by the end of February

The government has set by the end of February the objective of one million vaccinated among the oldest and most vulnerable, individuals and caregivers, in the 7,000 nursing homes and other similar establishments.

"All retirees over 65" will follow until the spring, then the rest of the population aged 16 and over, again on a voluntary basis.

The government hopes to have vaccinated "15 million people by this summer," said Matignon on Saturday, a deadline slightly delayed compared to what had been envisaged.

In the country of Pasteur, skepticism about vaccines remains high: a majority of French people (56%) did not plan to be vaccinated against Covid-19, according to a BVA poll published on Sunday by the JDD and carried out from 11 to 14 December.

Before the EU, many other countries started their vaccine campaign against Covid-19, which has infected almost 80 million people around the world, according to official data compiled by AFP.

Russia, which surpassed three million cases on Saturday, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Chile, among others, have already started vaccinating in December.

China was the first to do so last summer.                  

With AFP

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