As almost 69% of the French have been given the first shot, the government is considering a two-billion-euro budget for vaccination against Covid-19 in 2022. According to AFP, this amount will be presented in the draft bill about financing social security this Fall.
Why such a budget? A third dose is yet to be given from September to the people the most at risk, especially people over 80 years of age, and the government does not exclude the outbreak of new variants in the coming months. They also consider taking people not vaccinated yet in charge.
In France, vaccinating children under 12 is an issue currently addressed. If the evolution of the situation was to be taken into account, the vaccination budget could change as well. Minister of Public Accounts Olivier Dussopt spoke on RTL about “a necessary investment to exit the health and economic crisis”.
The Sanofi vaccine – expected to be available by the end of the year – could be taken into account in the government’s envelop and join the orders to Pfizer and Moderna, which prices have recently increased.
Despite fewer appointments booked to get vaccinated, the government hopes that as school stars again, as the health pass is instated for employees and underaged, there will be a “rebound effect”, as the executive still aims at vaccinating 50 million people with a first dose by the end of August.
The vaccination cost planned for 2022 is added to the cost of tests and vaccines for 2021, estimated at 10 billion euros, far from the 3.5 billion euros considered at the beginning of the pandemic. As screen tests will no longer be free of charge from mid-October if not medically prescribed, the bill will be lighter next year.
