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The French government is developing plans to force key health workers to get vaccinated after a coronavirus outbreak at a nursing home in southwest France was linked to a staff member who did not received vaccine.
Prime Minister Jean Castex has written to the leaders of the main parliamentary groups in an attempt to gain support from all parties.
“I am, like all French people, shocked when we see the epidemic reintroducing itself through those whose vocation is to protect and heal. This is not acceptable,” Castex told the Senate.
“The immunization coverage of healthcare workers remains globally insufficient to provide all the necessary protection to our fellow citizens,” Castex said in his letter.
“In this context, I hope that the debate on compulsory vaccination can take place.
“It is our responsibility to prepare the country for the possibility of an epidemic rebound in the fall.
“In this regard, it is important for me to gather your analysis on what the prevention and management measures could be to avoid once again imposing strong constraints on the French.
Discussion
French deputies could – in the event of a reshuffle of the parliamentary table – discuss the measures at the end of the month.
However, it seems more likely to be debated after the summer recess in September, when France could be in the throes of another wave.
As the European football championships peak in Azerbaijan, Russia, Germany, Italy and England, World Health Organization officials have warned that the matches – attended by more than 60,000 people in some cities – could be “super-broadcaster” events as fans from across the continent return to their home countries.
French health minister Olivier Véran said on Friday that if mandatory vaccinations were to be introduced, they would only affect health workers.
“Vaccination does not have to be compulsory for the general population,” he said during a visit to a vaccination center in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, on the outskirts of Paris.
Toll
“If the issue is addressed for caregivers, it is not for the general population,” he added.
More than 111,000 people have died in France from the coronavirus since January 2020.
With the Delta variant threatening to add more casualties to the grim statistics, several top medics have publicly supported the mandatory jabs.
Jean-François Delfraissy, the president of the scientific council guiding the government, declared on France Inter radio: “I was against the obligation to vaccinate the staff but I changed my mind.
Synerpa, one of the main federations representing private nursing homes, is in favor of compulsory vaccinations.
However, AD-PA, an association of EHPAD directors, is against the measure.
“We believe that the vaccine is useful, but that it should not be imposed”, declared its president Pascal Champvert.
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