The French government is under increasing pressure today to speed up the administration of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine. According to media reports, French President Macron, who has only recently recovered from the epidemic, is also furious about the slow pace of vaccination.
So far, only a few hundred people have been vaccinated in France, compared to more than 200,000 in neighboring Germany and about a million in the United Kingdom.
Jean Rottner, head of France’s Grand Est region, told France 2: “What we are seeing is a government scandal.” There has been a sharp rise in infections in the Grand Est region.
The pace must be accelerated,” said Rottner, who is a member of the opposition right-wing Republicans party. France desperately needs a clear and firm message from a government with a clear direction. And not to give people that impression.”
In his New Year’s speech to the nation, Emmanuel Macron promised that there would be no “unreasonable delays” in vaccination, but the Journal du Dimanche revealed today that Macron was privately and harshly critical of the vaccination schedule.
Citing sources close to the Elysee Palace, the Sunday paper reported that Macron said the pace of the “family walk” was “not in line with the current situation and not worthy of the French.
According to the report, Macron said: “I am in a state of war in the morning, at noon, in the evening and at night, and I expect everyone to be like that. This is not working now. There has to be a swift and firm change.”
Jordan Bardella, vice president of the far-right party National Rally, said, “France has become the laughing stock of the world.”
Bardella told RTL television, “We vaccinate as many people in a week as Germany does in 30 minutes. It’s a disgrace.”
According to the French Ministry of health, only 516 people had been vaccinated in France as of Jan. 1.
The French government began administering the vaccine to patients in care centers, a time-consuming process that requires the consent of each patient.
The European Union (EU) has only approved the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, a German biotech company, while Sanofi and GSK’s vaccine will not be ready until later this year due to delays.
The French government also strictly denies that the slow pace of vaccine administration is to wait for the release of the French-made vaccine.
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