France is testing the Moderna anti-Covid-19 virus vaccine in the eastern department of Moselle. If convincing, this vaccine will soon be available in French pharmacies. In addition, Germany has decided to ease border restrictions on the French department of Moselle as of Sunday, May 2, and cross-border public transport is also expected to resume operations on Sunday night.
France is testing the Moderna anti-Covid-19 virus vaccine among doctors and pharmacists in the eastern region, Moselle, which borders Germany and Luxembourg, this week, distributing a total of 600 injections.
According to a live report by our RFI correspondent Angélique Ferat on Saturday (May 1, 2021), the Moselle department, which borders Germany and Luxembourg, has been hit hard by the third wave of the outbreak in France. That’s why France chose to test the Moderna vaccine here. Vaccination is more widespread there than elsewhere, with 23 percent of the population having received at least one dose of the vaccine.
The test had one goal, to test the vaccine for stability during distribution and transport. The thawed Moderna vaccine can be stored for 30 days at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, so it needs to be kept in the refrigerator.
Catherine, a pharmacist in Rombas, a town 20 minutes from Metz, believes the test has been a success. Every day, she says, people come in and ask which vaccine she stocks. Some people don’t want AstraZeneca, they want Pfizer. When it comes to vaccines using “messenger RNA technology” (ARN messager), people are willing to accept them because they are similar to the Pfizer vaccine.
The outbreak in the Moselle department of France has improved significantly
The incidence rate in the Moselle department in France was 400 cases per 100,000 people at the beginning of March, with the South African variant spreading rapidly. Today, it has dropped to 198 cases per 100,000 people, making it one of the lowest in eastern France. Dr. Braun, head of the emergency center of the local hospital, said that this is the result of a combination of vaccination and the closure of the city. One can clearly see that the hospitalized patients are younger than before. Why? The answer is that older people have been vaccinated. Now there are young 20-year-olds, often those who are overweight and even have diabetes. In the hospital system of the Moselle department, 125 Covid-19 patients were hospitalized that day, 59 of them in the intensive care unit.
Germany eases restrictions on French Moselle
Germany will no longer consider the French province of Moselle a high-risk area and relax border restrictions as of Sunday, May 2. Along with this decision, random checks at the border will be eliminated and the quarantine period will be shortened to 10 days. The 16,000 cross-border commuting workers in the Moselle department who stay in Germany for no more than 24 hours are exempted from the quarantine measure, but will need to provide proof of a negative test valid for 48 hours.
Public transport routes between the French department of Moselle and the German states of Saarland (Sarre/Saar) and Rhineland-Palatinate (Rhénanie-Palatinat) will also resume operation from Sunday to Monday night.
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