Paris (AFP)

The delay in vaccination in the West Indies "will have killed and killed" again, deplored the Minister of Health Olivier Véran on Thursday, criticizing the persistence of vaccine mistrust: "the fear of the virus yes, the fear of the vaccine, no" .

The minister compared the situation of the Antilles and French Polynesia with that of metropolitan France, where "massive vaccination" has, according to him, "made it possible to avoid the worst".

The fourth wave, which started in July, is "an epidemic which kills mostly unvaccinated, hospitals are full of unvaccinated, deaths affect unvaccinated."

He regretted the delays in vaccination in the overseas departments and territories: "a substantial part of the population doubts the vaccine, its effectiveness, thinks that there are other means of fighting the virus".

"Since the arrival of the fourth wave, reluctance has receded", but "doubt will have killed and sometimes still kills in metropolitan France too", continued the minister, who said to have "seen with (his) eyes what the variant Delta can cause ".

In metropolitan France, "if we had not been able to count on the vaccine, the fourth wave could have been the worst, with tens of thousands of additional cases per day, serious cases en masse, hospitals could have been overwhelmed in a few weeks it has not happened and we have serious reasons to believe that it will not happen, "he said.

Mr. Véran estimated that the objective of 50 million first-time vaccinated will be reached in the first week of September but the government "wishes to go beyond", since 57 million French people are eligible.

Adolescents (12/17 years old) are already vaccinated at nearly 60%, and "for the remaining 40%, it will be facilitated" by the campaign planned in schools at the start of the school year.

But for the minister, "the top priority is the 2 million elderly or sick French people who have not yet been vaccinated".

He called for further strengthening the "go to" devices, also asking all caregivers (doctors, nurses) to offer vaccination to their patients who have not yet been vaccinated in conjunction with communities and associations.

He announced the sending of targeted letters to the vulnerable not yet vaccinated.

Olivier Véran also contested a number of infoxes concerning the vaccine.

"No, messenger RNA vaccines do not modify the human genome", "no the vaccine does not disturb the fertility of women," he explained in particular.

© 2021 AFP