Spring arrives in Paris, along with another Covid-19 blockade

This blockade is less severe than the original that paralyzed France a year ago. It is limited to Paris and 15 other areas of France that have been hard hit by the spread of Covid-19 variants. Parisians are allowed to venture 10 kilometers from their homes with a permit, unlike last year, when the limit was one kilometer.

But France’s third blockade is perhaps the most demoralizing. The country has looked abroad with envy, as vaccines were developed in record time and deployed so quickly in the United States and the United Kingdom that France began to wonder if it was also on the cusp. of economic renewal.

Instead, Paris’s cafés and cafés are closed indefinitely. The Louvre is sealed. The Eiffel Tower is deserted. And the vaccine line is very long.

“My sister lives in New York: I was vaccinated and she’s younger than me,” said Cyril Dunn, a 54-year-old skin craftsman. “In France there are still vulnerable people who have not been vaccinated. I know 85-year-olds who are still waiting for an appointment.

President Emmanuel Macron’s crisis management has been especially annoying for many French people. The former investment banker has been steadfast in the European Union’s decision to collectively supply vaccine supplies, an approach that has led to vaccine deficits across France and the rest of the continent. By Friday, only 8% of the French population had received a single dose of Covid-19 vaccine and only 3% had been completely vaccinated.

Macron has also fueled skepticism over a vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca PLC that many European health authorities consider crucial to changing the pandemic tide.

In late January, Mr Macron told a group of reporters that the vaccine was almost ineffective for people over 65, without providing evidence to support his claim. His government then reversed the course in early March (cleaning it up for the elderly) and only suspended the use of the vaccine this week after reporting that people who had received it in other parts of Europe developed rare blood clots and some had died.

On Thursday, Macron Prime Minister Jean Castex said the country would resume use of AstraZeneca vaccine after the European Union health agency said it was safe and effective and did not increase the risk of clots. of blood. Castex received the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday to reinforce the government’s message.

The zigzag has deepened into confusion in a country with a history of hesitation.

“I don’t understand why they stopped,” said Eric Vigor, a 52-year-old banker. “If I could be vaccinated, immediately, also with AstraZeneca.”

Jean Benmussa, a 74-year-old retiree living in the suburbs of Saint-Mandé, east of Paris, said millions of people who had already been vaccinated convinced him that the shots were safe, not the government.

“It simply came to our notice then. The whole management of the pandemic has been nonsense, “he said.

Frustrations are particularly heightened by Mr Macron’s focus on the latest blockade. He rejected calls from city officials to close Paris in the depths of winter, when the weather was cold and variants of the virus were beginning to spread across the country.

Now the Paris hospital system is on the brink, forcing authorities to relocate patients to areas with fewer cases. Across the country, intensive care units are full at 83%.

Pending the spring to impose a blockade, Macron has also delayed the possibility of reopening the French economy. French officials said they expected the blockade to loosen 0.2% of France’s gross domestic product this year.

This is a bitter pill for companies across the country that have been closed since November. When France came out of its second closure in mid-December, Mr Macron established that restaurants and bars would remain closed to reduce social contact. The same rule applies to museums, concert halls and other spaces where people gather.

“What matters most to the economy is the lack of progress towards removing restrictions,” said Andrew Kenningham, chief European economist at Capital Economics, who expected a large increase in France’s economic output in the second quarter. “We had anticipated that by now governments would be preparing to ease the restrictions, or even would be doing so.”

For now, Parisians are learning to curb their spring enthusiasm. Earlier this month, Parisians flocked to the banks of the Seine in the middle of a warm period. The national police, which depends on the central government, responded by sending columns of police officers to the river banks to remove them.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the operation was shocking and added that the government acted without informing her in time.

“You can intervene when people do not distance themselves socially or drink without masks. But the scenes I saw weren’t like that, “Ms. Hidalgo said.” There were a lot of parents with strollers, people walking around. “

Write to Stacy Meichtry at [email protected] and Matthew Dalton at [email protected]