The government intends to speed up the schedule for the third dose, starting with caregivers.
Invited on France Inter this Saturday morning, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran announced the "strengthening of the vaccination obligation of caregivers and firefighters by integrating the third dose from January 30".
"We do not want, as in Scotland, to have 25% to 30% of caregivers who could not work because they would all be contacts and therefore in quarantine", justified the minister, adding that "several hospital clusters of the Omicron variant" were detected in the Paris region.
To date, nearly 55% of caregivers working in nursing homes (or long-term care units) have received their third dose, according to Public Health France.
They are 76% to have done so on the side of liberal health professionals and 64% for salaried professionals.
Oivier Véran: "We are going to strengthen the vaccination obligation of caregivers and firefighters by integrating the 3rd dose from January 30" # le69inter pic.twitter.com/PXyaDfeaVR
- France Inter (@franceinter) December 18, 2021
On the vaccination side, Olivier Véran recalled that nearly "a million vaccinations" are performed per day.
"The Moderna controversy is behind us", insisted the minister, adding that "more than half of the injections are done with" this serum and "it is going very well, the French are reassured".
The mistrust surrounding the Moderna vaccine has had consequences for caregivers, faced with cancellations of appointments, shunned slots or even discarded doses.
Read also "They only want Pfizer": when patients try to choose their vaccine against Covid-19
Faced with more and more appointments, support will be provided to doctors and pharmacists. "I allowed pharmacists to recruit students and retirees to vaccinate in pharmacies," said the Minister. Support will also be provided in vaccination centers where "soldiers and holders of a first aid certificate" will be mobilized, after having received a short training. This device "will make it possible to mobilize even more arms" in the coming weeks, he emphasizes.
Another announcement, the vaccination will be offered to children from 5 to 11 years old from Wednesday "if all goes well," said the Minister of Health.
"If all goes well, on the 22nd of the afternoon we will start the vaccination of children in centers adapted for children", he added.
As a reminder, the National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE) gave a favorable opinion on Friday for this age group which is not affected by the health pass or the future vaccination pass.
"We want the French to be vaccinated"
Finally, Olivier Véran returned to the transformation of the health pass into a vaccination pass, announced the day before by Jean Castex.
This device "should allow us to avoid interrupting daily activities for the 90% of French people vaccinated", justified the minister.
"It's simple, it's clear, it's crystal clear, it's assumed, we want the French to be vaccinated," he added.
Support and education remain a priority, insisted Olivier Véran for whom the introduction of fines, for example, would not be wise.
“The countries that impose fines are the ones that want to achieve our immunization coverage.
And resistant people will pay no matter what, because some are afraid, sometimes irrationally.
We must support everyone, ”he stressed.
