Paris (AFP)

The controversy remains sharp over the slowness of the vaccination campaign in France, where the start of the school year and the return of the holidays, coupled with the threat of new, more contagious variants of Covid-19, raise fears of a rebound in the epidemic.

While the critics have continued to mount for almost a week, Emmanuel Macron chairs in the afternoon at the Elysee a "follow-up meeting" of the vaccination.

With 516 people vaccinated on January 1, according to the Ministry of Health, the government is accused of having implemented a strategy that is too slow and too cautious compared to some of its European neighbors.

"I consider that today we are facing a state scandal", blasted Monday the president of the Grand Est region, Jean Rottner (LR), on France 2, pointing to "a form of unpreparedness, d 'irresponsibility' of the government.

"Things must speed up," he continued, calling for local communities to be able, "once European stocks have run out, to be the source of vaccine orders" and that "all professionals health "are allowed to vaccinate.

The government has promised to accelerate while an advanced curfew at 6 p.m. (against 8 p.m. in the rest of the country) started on Saturday for 15 departments, especially in the East, affected by a stronger resumption of the epidemic.

The pace will rise with on the one hand the opening of vaccination to health professionals over 50, and on the other hand the promise to install before "early February" the first centers "in town", for the elderly not resident in nursing homes, promised the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran.

- "worrying" situation -

"500,000 (doses) have already been received. And 500,000 additional doses will arrive at the beginning of the week," for his part assured the government spokesman, Gabriel Attal, in Le Parisien on Sunday.

He also promised transparency, via an information system "Covid Vaccine" launched Monday by the Health Insurance, and the constitution (announced at the end of November) of a group of 35 citizens drawn from Monday who will be able to challenge authorities.

But for the High Authority for Health (HAS), "the strategy remains: priority on the most vulnerable people, and health professionals, expanding when we can, if we have the necessary number of doses", summarized on France Inter Elisabeth Bouvet, president of the technical committee on vaccinations of the body.

"Given the number of doses which, I remind you, is currently limited, we cannot distribute it like that to people who want it, while they have no risks," she insisted. , while admitting that "the implementation of the strategy must probably accelerate".

The government had set itself the goal of reaching a million people at risk for vaccination by February.

In the meantime, the return of the Christmas holidays and the start of the school year on Monday, which is added to the cold and the threat of the two new variants of Covid-19 detected in the United Kingdom and in South Africa and considered to be more contagious, make fear a strong rebound in the epidemic.

"The trend is already worrying", warned the Director General of Health, Jérôme Salomon, in the JDD, stressing that "the incidence is on the rise again after a fairly long plateau", with around "10,000 cases per day "early December and 15,000" today ".

A bad omen for planning a reopening of bars and restaurants on January 20, as envisaged by the executive, while cultural venues have already had to mourn the reception of the public at the start of the school year.

After more than two months of "distancing", universities can accommodate a few students in small groups and gauges of 50% of students are still applied in high schools.

The Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer did not exclude "adjustments in the future if necessary", in particular if the new variants prove to be more contagious in the youngest, a hypothesis considered by scientists.

© 2021 AFP