PARIS (AP) – While governments across Europe began their vaccination plans against the virus this weekend with fanfare, France has taken a more discreet approach due to widespread skepticism among citizens around vaccines.
After the first shots were fired on the arm of Mauricette, a 78-year-old woman, at a long-term care center near Paris on Sunday, President Emmanuel Macron appealed to his compatriots: “We have confidence in our researchers and doctors. We are the nation of the Enlightenment and the (pioneer of the Louis vaccine) Pasteur. Reason and science must guide us. “
Still, many of his compatriots worry. They recall the French health scandals of recent decades, including those related to mismanaged vaccines. They fear that coronavirus vaccines will develop too quickly, that they are destined to make a profit for the big pharmaceutical companies, or risk long-term side effects that the world will only discover in a few years.
France has lost more lives to the virus than most countries and its economy, one of the largest in the world, has been deeply paralyzed by two virus blockages. Doctors expect the vaccination of the French vaccine to fade as more people are vaccinated.
Dr. Jean-Jacques Monsuez, a 65-year-old cardiologist at a nursing home in northeastern Paris, was France’s second vaccine recipient on Sunday. After injecting himself and several elderly patients, he said, “They’re vaccinated, we’re vaccinated, we’re all on the same boat. And the boat can’t sink.
“And around the ship is a country that can’t sink.”
French far-right and far-left politicians have fueled concerns about vaccines, but polls commissioned by the national health agency suggest skepticism also comes from some moderate voters.
Justine Lardon walks on a crutch after suffering serious side effects from a hepatitis B vaccine in 2010 and doubts whether she can be vaccinated against the virus. He told the regional newspaper Le Progres that he supports vaccination, but is concerned that doctors are not paying enough attention to individual health problems.
“If (the vaccine) can end the epidemic, it’s really fantastic, but I don’t want a vaccine that is a time bomb,” she says.
The French government has been cautious in its messaging, wanting to make sure it is not considered to force vaccination on the public. Instead, authorities rely on doctors to convince patients that the vaccine is in their best interest and that of the country.
Macron reiterated Sunday that the vaccine will be free and not mandatory.
France’s first vaccination was not broadcast on live television, nor anywhere else, and no minister attended. No senior official has said he will receive the vaccine yet, but he has insisted he should go to the most vulnerable first.
In a country with a large elderly population, including many with cognitive disabilities, the government was pressured by interested families to develop broad guidance to gather the consent of patients in the residence before vaccinating them.
However, many French people want to get vaccinated as soon as they can.
“I’m very moved,” Mauricette said when told she was the first in France to receive the vaccine. “You’re a star,” said the doctor who administered it, after gently folding Mauricette’s sleeve down over the small bandage on her upper arm.
“It simply came to our notice then. She said “yes, I am prepared for anything to prevent the spread of this disease,” said Dr. Samir Tine, head of geriatric services at his facility in Sevran, northeast of Paris.
“It’s an important day,” Tine said. “We look forward to having a new weapon and look forward to rediscovering our normal lives.”
France has recorded the highest number of virus infections in Western Europe and among the highest deaths, with 62,573 lives lost. Nearly a third died in residences, so the government decided to give the vaccine first to the elderly, as well as some high-risk medical workers.
Noting that France’s infections are rising again in some regions, especially among the elderly in rural areas, Health Minister Olivier Veran warned in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche published on Sunday that pressure on hospitals could start growing again and said the government isn’t ruling out a third blockade.
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