Overwhelmed with criticism, the government of Jean Castex is trying to regain control of the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 in France, while fears of a rebound in the epidemic are growing stronger. 

According to the office of Minister of Health Olivier Véran, 12,500 vaccinations were carried out on Wednesday, against 5,000 late Tuesday afternoon. 

Prime Minister Jean Castex has promised that he will speak "at length" on this issue Thursday during his press conference with Olivier Véran, scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

The latter intend to defend the government's vaccine strategy and "give as much visibility as possible to the actors who need it, with a part of the unknown which remains on the circulation of the virus", according to government spokesman Gabriel Attal.

Stricken for several days because of a drip start, the government has promised to pass the second, in particular by allowing without delay all health professionals over 50 years of age or at risk to receive the famous injection in the hospitals, and no longer just for residents and staff of nursing homes. 

Accelerate 

On Tuesday, the Minister of Health also promised to step up the pace by opening vaccination before the end of January, in dedicated centers in town, to all people over the age of 75 who do not live in retirement homes. 

"We are opening 100 centers intended for the city", then "we will open 300 next week and 500 the following week," assured the government spokesman, Gabriel Attal, after the first Council of Ministers of the year. 

France has one million doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine.

But with a million residents and health personnel concerned in nursing homes, some 5 million people over the age of 75, and with two injections per person, will the expected doses be sufficient for the time being?  

To the 500,000 weekly doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, 200,000 doses should be added "the first month", then "500,000 per month" of the vaccine from the American Moderna, validated on Wednesday by the European Medicines Agency (EMA ) and the European Commission, and which is now awaiting the green light from the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) in France, explained Gabriel Attal. 

 A beginning of controversy also arose after the revelations of Politico, then of the Chained Duck, on a mission entrusted by the government to the private consulting firm McKinsey and Company to support it in its vaccine strategy.

The Ministry of Health confirmed to AFP that this cabinet was working within the “vaccination task force of the Ministry of Health”, without giving details of its exact missions. 

"Discuss heavier measures"

In this context of permanent controversy, the government must also find the right cursor of health restrictions to stop the restart of the epidemic after the holidays.

Some of its neighbors have chosen to go back through the confinement box, schools included, (England, Scotland) or to extend the closure measures (Germany). 

Closed since October 30, restaurants and bars saw their hopes of reopening on January 20 dashed. 

To the chagrin of ski resorts, the ski lifts will not reopen Thursday as initially planned, Secretary of State for Tourism Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne told AFP on Wednesday evening. 

Regarding culture, Gabriel Attal mentioned "a reopening schedule which could be gradual", without specifying which actors were concerned. 

"In the middle of next week, it will perhaps be the moment to discuss heavier measures to avoid an expansion of the epidemic", estimated Wednesday evening on France 2 Jean-François Delfraissy, the president of the Scientific Council, who guide the government.

Currently, 15 departments have an advanced 6:00 p.m. curfew, two hours earlier than the rest of the country. 

As of Wednesday, 25,379 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded, far from the government target of 5,000 cases per day.

With 291 deaths in hospital, the disease has killed 66,565 people since the start of the epidemic. 

With AFP 

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