For two weeks, some French people have had to do a PCR test ... to get vaccinated.
This incongruity results from the implementation of the health pass in large shopping centers.
A little more than a hundred are now subject to it, at the request of the prefect, mainly in the departments where the incidence rate exceeds 200 cases of Covid per 100,000 inhabitants.
Among these shopping centers where health passes are required, some had taken the initiative to host a vaccination center.
These new constraints had the effect of reducing the number of vaccinations carried out in these centers.
“The
whole point for our customers was to be able to get vaccinated without an appointment, while going shopping
,” explains Anne-Sophie Sancerre, Unibail Rodamco Westfield's director of operations in Southern Europe.
It was a big asset to reach a less connected and more popular population
”.
Read alsoThe health pass, a puzzle for the largest shopping centers
The only shopping centers of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield have so far contributed to the vaccination of 400,000 people, assures the property.
But in Rosny 2 for example, the daily rate fell from 930 people vaccinated per day to 500, even if each center tries to find solutions on a case-by-case basis.
"
When the people who wish to be vaccinated have not done a PCR test, we still let them in if the vaccination center is located next to the entrance, or we have them accompanied by a security guard
, continues Anne. -Sophie Sancerre.
But this will no longer be possible when attendance increases again, at the start of the school year
”.
Drop in attendance
To solve this problem, shopping centers are pleading for the health pass to apply only from September 15 in shopping centers that house a vaccination center. They assure that at a rate of 500 vaccinations per day and per center, they could vaccinate a million people per week, if the 350 centers of more than 20,000 m2 participated in this effort.
It must be said that the health pass also harms the activity of these centers by drastically reducing their attendance, at a period, the start of the school year, which is crucial for the businesses located there. According to the federation of the sector, the number of visitors fell from 25% to 30% in places where the health pass is in force. Unlike restaurants, customers have the choice to go shopping elsewhere, in stores where the pass is not requested, for example small shopping centers or city center stores.