On the second floor of a building at the René-Muret hospital in Sevran (Seine-Saint-Denis), Mauricette, 78, seated on a reclining chair, is quite relaxed, even at the sight of the needle.
“It's okay, I'm not impressed.
I'm ready for the ordeal, don't panic!
», She reassures in front of a wall all pink.
Samira Mzouri, nurse who has "30 years of career", then pinches the skin on her left shoulder and then proceeds to the injection.
"That's it, we are done my dear", she announces to the applause of the nursing staff.
VIDEO. Covid-19: the first dose of the vaccine administered in a hospital in Seine-Saint-Denis
The septuagenarian, she "does not even hurt".
“I have had bites.
It gets hot ”, reacts, stoically, the one who is then“ placed for 15 minutes under observation ”.
At 11:01 a.m. this Sunday morning, Mauricette, very flirtatious with her zebra T-shirt, pink pants and burgundy moccasins, became the first vaccinated in France against Covid-19.
"A star", as she says, "a star" even, as presented in a white blouse.
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Here, eight other patients aged 66 to 90 - 5 women and 3 men - from the long-term care unit badly affected by the first wave of the pandemic were to benefit from the antidote from Pfizer and BioNTech laboratories at the launch. symbolic of the vaccination campaign in our country.
In the afternoon, residents of an Ehpad in Dijon (Côte-d'Or) including Alain, 92, were entitled to the same remedy which, for the time being, divides the French population so much.
"She's very well.
She is proud to see her face on television ”
All of these volunteers will be given the second injection in three weeks.
"We are eager to have a new weapon at our disposal and also eager to get back to our usual life", breathes Samir Tine, head of the geriatrics department at René-Muret hospital.
For this doctor who was "impatiently awaiting this preventive treatment", this Sunday is "a great day".
Half an hour after Mauricette's bite which has "entered into history", he gives reassuring news.
" She's very well.
She is proud to see her face on television, ”he says.
From this jovial pioneer who is hard of hearing, we know that she was born on April 11, 1942, lived "as a child, during the war, in Toulouse" (Haute-Garonne), has "family in the department of the Aude ”, is“ not married ”, was“ a household help ”then“ worked in a pastry factory ”in Seine-Saint-Denis, lived in 93, in Bourget and suffers from pathologies chronic.
"She is adorable", incense, eyes cloudy, her guardian angel Samira Mzouri, "very moved" to inject her with the first dose of anti-Covid vaccine.
Like Alain, 92, several residents of an Ehpad in Dijon (Côte-d'Or) were vaccinated this Sunday.
/ Reuters / Philippe Desmazes
Just before the immunization, Mauricette exchanged a few words with Martin Hirsch, director general of Public Assistance-Hospitals of Paris (AP-HP), one of the few officials present at this first without a minister.
"Are they nice?"
He asks, pointing to the nurses and nurses who watch over them.
" Yes!
», Answers the retiree.
"I'm sure they are great, they have a difficult job," continues the senior official.
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Within the walls of the establishment, a house doctor was also vaccinated in the spotlight.
"We chose the youngest," jokes the person concerned, the cardiologist Jean-Jacques Monsuez, 65 years old.
Thanks to the "privilege of age", he is one of the priority healthcare staff in terms of vaccination because he is likely to develop a serious form of Covid.
“Today, I am patient, not a doctor,” he laughs.
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It is again the nurse Samira Mzouri who draws the syringe containing 0.3 milliliter of vaccine diluted with physiological serum.
"She was exposed more than anyone to the virus from the first wave, it makes me happy that Samira stings me", thanks the one who sees in each white coat "a gold ingot".
Then to address, hilariously, to a cameraman: "You will cut the sound when I say
Ouch!"
But Doctor Monsuez will remain silent.
He felt almost nothing, "just a little tension after the sting which has disappeared".
So here he is "adult and vaccinated".
When he gets serious again, he has a thought for "all those who have left their skin" in this health crisis.
“We are all in the same boat, which must not sink.
We must put an end to this epidemic, it is killing too many people and shattering the economy, ”he insists.