A way to encourage the French to get vaccinated against Covid? In an interview with Journal du Dimanche, France’s Health Minister Olivier Véran gave details on the government’s vaccine strategy including a roadmap, explaining it was not “limited to end of the year’s deadlines”. He added they do not want to rush to make sure of the vaccine’s reliability: “we will begin once we get guarantees, and we will do everything we can to be operational” Olivier Véran stated.
He went on: “It is out of the question to tell the French ‘we could begin vaccination, but we are not ready’”. He concludes: “risk zero does not exist”. As for details of the mass vaccination campaign, the minister also underlined this “complete, clear, transparent, effective and cautious strategy” will be detailed very soon, in a matter of days. But one thing is sure: this vaccine will not be compulsory, as announced on Tuesday November 24 by the French President during his televised address.
A genuine challenge for the minister who has been facing the disapproval of many French in terms of vaccine. It particularly incites anxiety, its conception time being extraordinarily short, so much that many people think it has been created in a rush. For the record, according to an IFOP/JDD survey, 59% of the French are still unwilling to get vaccinated against Covid.
