French President Emmanuel Macron.
LOIC VENANCE | AFP | Getty Images
LONDON – France is currently far behind other European countries with the launch of the Covid-19 vaccine, which could jeopardize the chances of re-electing President Emmanuel Macron.
As of Friday, so far 80,000 French citizens had been vaccinated against coronavirus. In comparison, neighboring Germany has done hundreds of thousands of inoculations.
The success or failure to vaccinate the population is likely to shape the political debate, as the campaign for the 2022 presidential race is heating up in the coming months.
“While the 2022 presidential election still looks a long way off, President Macron is sure to be concerned that a rollout of poorly executed vaccines will hurt his chances of winning another term,” economist Jessica Hinds told CNBC on Thursday. European Capital Economics. .
Macron stood side by side with far-right leader Marine Le Pen in an opinion poll published in October.
The French president had complained that the pace of inoculations “was not worthy of the moment or of the French people” and said the situation “must change quickly and significantly,” Le Journal du Dimanche reported earlier this week. month. The president’s cabinet was not immediately available for comment when CNBC contacted him Monday.
“A slow rate of vaccination would limit the government’s ability to remove restrictions that affect the economy and people’s daily lives. This would be clearly unpopular among (French) voters, especially if other countries like Germany are able to remove them. -before them, “Hinds said.
Bureaucracy has been the main reason for the delays. Citizens have had to get a pre-vaccination consultation and get their doctor’s consent before a punch.
“What strikes me about the French strategy is that public officials didn’t pay much attention to logistics,” Jeremy Ghez, a professor at HEC Paris Business School, told CNBC by email.
Country reports also suggest that there is a high anti-vaccine sentiment in the population, compared to other nations.
French Health Minister Olivier Veran initially suggested that careful distribution took into account vaccine concerns among the general population. An Ipsos survey published in late December showed that only 40% of French people planned to get the coronavirus vaccine.
But now the French government wants to reverse the situation by simplifying the process. Frenchman Veran said people aged 75 and over could make an appointment online or by phone to get vaccinated.
The country is also expanding eligibility criteria and the government has promised that one million people will be vaccinated before the end of the month.
France has been one of the nations hardest hit by the pandemic. Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday that restaurants and ski resorts will remain closed at least until mid-February and that the night curfew will be extended until the end of January.
Social constraints are affecting the economy. France’s GDP is expected to fall by more than 9% by 2020.
The slower the vaccine is deployed, the more parts of the economy will remain closed.
“The French economy is anesthetic and only when you remove the tax cap will you truly know how quickly economic agents can rebound. If this happens quickly, I like Macron’s chances because there are few alternatives from today. Yes it does, no, I would say all bets are off, ”Ghez said about how economic performance will influence the presidential vote.
Macron defeated Le Pen in 2017 on a pro-EU agenda.