PARIS (AP) – The French city of Lyon’s main stadium opened as a mass vaccination center over the Easter weekend, and thousands of people spent their holidays preparing for injections at racecourses, velodromes or other places as France attempted to speed up fire amid a new rise in coronavirus cases.
But as Europe celebrated its second consecutive Easter under the pandemic cloud, some cities suspended vaccines during the long holiday weekend, defying French President Emmanuel Macron’s insistence that “there are no weekends or days off during vaccination.”
Medical workers need “some rest at last,” said an official in the French city of Strasbourg, which closed vaccination facilities from Good Friday to Easter Monday, a public holiday. To ensure residents still had access to life-saving vaccines, Strasbourg extended vaccination hours and administered the entire weekly dose supply between last Monday and Thursday, the official said.
Spain, Italy and Germany faced a similar holiday vaccination challenge.
The Spaniards lined up to fire on Easter Sunday in Barcelona and other parts of the country, but Madrid stopped vaccinations at local health centers to give staff a break. The Spanish capital continued to fire a football stadium and a new hospital built to help deal with pandemic cases.
With Spain fearing a new wave of infections like the one now sweeping French intensive care units, Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias had urged regional authorities to maintain vaccines throughout Easter.
The French city of Sarcelles, north of Paris, was among the people whose vaccination center remained open on Easter Sunday amid demands and mushroom infections. Organizers at the center planned to inject 2,000 doses on Sunday, double the daily average.
Those waiting to enter felt lucky and relieved. The surrounding Val d’Oise region now has the highest coronavirus infection rate in France and the situation in Sarcelles symbolizes how the pandemic has worsened existing inequalities.
“The problem is with people who still don’t meet the requirements and are in a hurry, which I understand because they want to get back to a normal life,” Dr. Majida El Mokhtari said. “Unfortunately we are not able to vaccinate everyone with the doses that are distributed to us.”
City’s working class residents are more exposed to the virus because many cannot work remotely. In housing projects in the area, many families have several generations living in nearby areas. Language barriers make resolving vaccination agreements a challenge for many immigrants.
In Lyon, French first-division football club Olympique Lyon opened its stadium and provided volunteer staff to help medical workers and firefighters with a massive vaccine that began on Saturday. Authorities plan to administer 3,000 doses daily for the first three days.
Club president Jean Michel Aulas expressed hope that the effort would help create “social cohesion” at a time of tension and uncertainty, as France entered a third partial closure. from Sunday.
Meanwhile, the French army announced it would open seven vaccination centers starting Tuesday to help inject civilians.
In Italy, those lucky enough to get vaccinated in Milan on Sunday received an extra reward: a dove-shaped Easter cake and packets of pasta. Only one city hospital administered vaccines for Easter, according to Italian media. Among those administering the injections at Milan’s Niguarda Hospital were retired hospital doctors offering their time.
“We are making our contribution to this important battle” against COVID-19, Dr. Vincenzo Rapisarda on SkyTG24 TV.
It seems that German vaccination centers remain open during the holidays, but the number of injections is usually slower on weekends.
The accelerated Easter actions in some European Union countries contrasted with the slow start of the deployment of vaccines in Europe during Christmas and New Year.
While France lags far behind Britain and the United States in terms of vaccinating its population, the pace is starting to pick up. France has administered 12 million vaccine doses in general, including nearly 1 million in the last three days.
Spanish authorities are accelerating vaccination efforts with the arrival of two million doses over the past week, their big batch so far. Spain had administered 8.5 million doses as of Friday.
Through the Channel, British authorities planned to test a number of measures, including “coronavirus status certifications” over the next few weeks, to see if they can allow people to safely return to mass gatherings at sports venues. discos and concerts.
People attending various events, including conferences and the FA Football Cup, will need to be tested both before and after. The essays will also gather evidence on how ventilation and different approaches to social distancing could advance major events.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to explain more details about the coronavirus passports on Monday.
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Cetinic contributed from Sarcelles, France. Joseph Wilson collaborated in Barcelona, Frances D’Emilio in Rome, Sylvia Hui in London and David McHugh in Frankfurt.
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