Vincent Jeanbrun is mayor (LR) of L'Haÿ-les-Roses (Val-de-Marne).
There is still time for a successful vaccination campaign.
In this "
war
" against the virus - to use the words of the President of the Republic - the mayors are on the front line, volunteering to lead it and we have demonstrated this since the start of the health crisis: first by providing masks to the French thanks to the mobilization of the Regions, then by organizing massive screening campaigns in our territories.
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For a few days now, we have also urgently opened Covid vaccination centers - at the request of the cornered and hard-pressed government, forgetting that it had nevertheless sent us back to our homes when we made the proposal to him - to finally make it possible the acceleration of a vaccination campaign that had been sluggish for nearly a month.
We mobilized tirelessly, supported by communal agents with remarkable dedication, to achieve the vaccination objectives set by the State and to respond to the legitimate impatience of the French.
Because it is about the health of our compatriots, our participation does not suffer from any hesitation and we have taken our responsibilities.
We did not hesitate to compensate for the failures of the State by mobilizing our municipal staff to keep registration registers and vaccination schedules, by recruiting and paying caregivers, by purchasing needles and syringes from our municipal budgets. , compresses, gloves, masks, coolers and refrigerators whose provision by the State - although promised - was not assured.
We did it without complaining or arguing because the success of the vaccination campaign is at stake.
As the Government broadens the target of priority audiences, the doses that we were promised have been drastically reduced over the days.
We are volunteers.
But we are disappointed.
If the mayors have deployed treasures of inventiveness to be at the rendezvous of vaccination, logistics and vaccine supply is not.
As the government broadens the target of priority audiences, the doses we were promised have been drastically reduced over the days.
Worse, even today my fellow mayors do not have the slightest visibility on the number of doses that we can hope to obtain in the coming weeks, contrary to the assertions of the Minister of Health.
Some of them were forced to close their center altogether, deprogramming several hundred appointments without the prospect of postponement.
At L'Haÿ-les-Roses, we obtained 150 doses for 3 days instead of the 200 daily doses initially promised, even though registrations had exceeded 4,000 in one day!
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We are volunteers.
But we are angry.
The speeches held by members of the government in media circles and parliamentary hemicycles are far from the realities on the ground.
The truths conveyed by the ministers on the good management of the shortage and on the readability of the vaccination procedures are denied every day by the confusion that reigns in reception desks and the concern it arouses in the minds of the French.
Worse, the government's attempts to blame local elected officials for this chaos, accusing us of lies, are as counterproductive as they are inelegant.
No, our stories are not "
fables
" Mr. Minister.
No, our weariness is not unjustified.
No, our exasperations are not feigned.
No one should be mistaken: to wage all-out war requires general mobilization.
Rather than readjusting its strategy based on our feedback, the Government chooses contempt, confrontation and insult
Rather than readjusting its strategy based on our feedback, the government chooses contempt, confrontation and insult.
Rather than creating a climate of trust, ministers opt for mistrust.
When we ask for political answers, ministers give us flippant political formulas.
No need to reiterate that we all wish the success of this vaccination campaign.
We, the mayors, are the state's partners, not its adversaries.
What if, instead of consulting 35 citizens drawn by lot, the government already starts by listening to the 35,000 mayors who are reaching out to it?
I call on the government to establish the conditions for a frank and transparent dialogue with the mayors who are already mobilized on the vaccination front and those who are called upon to become so.
To do this, it is urgent that the Government receive us to answer our many questions.
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When will we see a real vaccination map modeled on the school map to better manage vaccine supplies?
When will we have a centralized registration file to avoid duplication?
When will we have the schedule and the exact quantities of doses made available to each vaccination center, week by week?
When and at what rate will we open vaccination to the next age groups to avoid a new engorgement?
Will we have enough doses in the coming weeks to ensure the second injection without abruptly stopping the first?
Without these answers, we are sailing by sight.
We are convinced that it is not too late to succeed in the vaccination campaign, provided that the State accepts to find solutions rather than looking for excuses.
In this crisis, the French know they can count on their mayors.
Let the state do the same.
