“
We are completely hostages of a vaccine geopolitics. It's a nightmare for all of us
”. Last spring, Catherine *, an expatriate in Moscow, had no choice but to receive the Sputnik vaccine. No Pfizer or Moderna serum in Putin's country, and the French embassy evoked diplomatic difficulties with the Russian authorities. The Quai d'Orsay therefore encouraged the French to receive local vaccines. In March and April, the 50-year-old therefore received her two doses. The following summer, he was very disappointed when he arrived in France: his vaccination schedule was not recognized. Deprived of a health pass, the expatriate is therefore subject to a ten-day quarantine, Russia being classified in the "
red zone
" for the Covid-19.
Read alsoRussia-NATO: how relations have gradually deteriorated
However, when she goes to the neighboring vaccination center, to receive a vaccine recognized by France, she is outright refused.
"
The ARS does not have sufficient data to allow the accumulation of vaccines
", one explains.
Six months later, nothing has changed: for the Christmas holidays, Catherine and her children respected a quarantine of ten days, and were satisfied with public places not subject to the famous QR code.
Even disappointment for Claire, vaccinated with Sputnik but who wanted to take advantage of the summer vacation to receive a first dose of Pfizer, then a second at three week intervals.
Refusal of the doctor.
"
At
the time, the WHO still advised against the accumulation of vaccine schedules
", she explains to
Figaro
.
“
Many French people have hidden that they were vaccinated with Sputnik, so as not to be more bothered.
I could have done the same, but the most important thing for me was the medical aspect
”.
A "
political scandal
", a sanitary gray area
Caught in a vaccine imbroglio, the French in Russia no longer know which way to turn. And the cold war on vaccines seems to be set to last. In Putin's country, recognition of Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca does not seem to be on the agenda. "
We have our vaccines, we have four, doesn't that offer the possibility of choosing?
", Estimated in July the spokesperson for the Russian presidency. On the European side, the study of the validity of Sputnik by the European Medicines Agency also seems to be dragging on. As with the Chinese Sinovac, Sinopharm and CanSino serums.
For these vaccines, the guidelines of the Ministry of Health were updated in September: "
People who have received one or two doses of a vaccine not recognized by the EMA (...) should receive two doses of vaccine in MRNA in France, in order to complete their vaccination schedule and thus obtain a health pass in France
”. As a result, many French people, straddling two countries, accumulate doses. This is how Catherine was able, at the beginning of January, to receive her first injection of Moderna. She will return at Easter for the second, and, in the meantime, will receive the Russian reminder, the famous "
Sputnik light
", to extend the QR code in her country of residence.
“Stacking six doses scares me.
I do it because I have no choice, but for my children, it is out of the question ”.
Catherine *, expatriate in Moscow
Pending more precise data, Sylvie, a French civil servant longtime resident in Moscow, preferred to wait before the bite.
It almost cost him dearly.
Her mother fell suddenly ill in early December.
Disembarked in disaster, the French hospital demanded from her a valid health pass.
Every morning for ten days, the mother went to the doctor to receive the swab, her baby under her arm.
“
I could have cheated, used someone's pass.
But the situation was serious enough not to complicate
it, ”she says bitterly.
Read alsoVaccine, treatment: Pfizer's double winner against the Covid
“
A simpler solution would have been to do a serological test when arriving in France: we would have known that we had antibodies, that's all!
», Sighs Catherine, who herself has a rate of natural immunity well above average.
The 50-year-old deplores the lack of medical data on the accumulation of two vaccine schedules.
“'
When I tell the story to the doctors, they hallucinate completely.
We are placed in a potentially risky medical situation.
I'm doing it because I don't have a choice, but I'm scared to inject myself six doses into my blood without knowing the potential effects
, ”she says.
“
As for my 10 and 5 year old kids, that's just out of the question.
We can play with my health, not theirs
".
Escape quarantine
As if to accumulate tares, Russia is one of the last countries classified as "
country at risk
" by France. Any direct flight from Russia is subject to ten days of isolation on French soil. “
No public source explains why. There is no criterion, as if the decision was totally arbitrary! You just have to see Brazil, it's the same thing
, ”denounces Catherine. To get around the rule, many expats stop over in Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Milan or Barcelona. On the different French chats in Russia, the conversations are ubiquitous. “
If I do my first dose in Croatia, do you know if I can do the second in France and activate the vaccination pass?
One asks. Responnse : "
On the TousAntiCovid application, you can scan the QR code of the vaccine made in Croatia and immediately see if it is validated.
I did it for the 1st received in Germany and the 2nd in Spain.
No worries
”.
“The French in Russia do not have the luxury of being for or against vaccination, they have simply been abandoned.
"
Franck Ferrari, adviser to the French in Moscow
The feeling of injustice is shared by many. "
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims that the Russians have not given permission to import our vaccines, but the argument is a little easy
," protests in turn Franck Ferrari, adviser to the French in Moscow, who has been pleading with the embassy since the start of the crisis for access to European vaccines. "
How is it that the Finns, the Swiss, the Germans managed to import doses, and not us?"
". By the spring, a handful of the Johnson & Johnson doses had only been able to get through, but reserved for embassy staff and their families. Some French people then turned to the embassies ofGermany or Canada to take advantage of remaining doses.
On January 11, the spokesperson for Moscow expatriates wished to express the dismay of his fellow citizens in a letter addressed to Minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, in charge of French people living abroad.
"
The French in Russia do not have the luxury of being for or against vaccination, they have simply been abandoned
", points out the author in the letter that
Le Figaro
was able to consult.
“
Would we have become a sub-nation?
He asks.
Contacted by
Le Figaro,
the Quai d'Orsay did not respond to our requests.
* The first name has been changed.
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