On March 9, Facebook user Mano Beridze published a post, according to which “70% of French healthcare workers do not trust and reject vaccination.” The author of the post called on Georgian doctors to follow the example of their French colleagues. Mano Beridze refers to Italian online edition Corriere as the source of information.
Mano Beridze’s claim is manipulative. As of March 5, 30% of healthcare workers had got vaccinated. But it does not mean that the remaining 70% rejected vaccination. Large scale vaccination is currently underway in an accelerated manner.
Mano Beridze referred to the article released by Corriere.it on March 6. Reading only the headline of the article “COVID-19 vaccine in France, doctors against it: only 30% got it” leaves an impression that the remaining 70% of doctors do not intend to get vaccinated. Mano Beridze’s post, apparently, aims at promoting this opinion. In fact, 70% of healthcare workers have not rejected vaccines; neither does the article say anything about it.
The article involves the March 5 letter addressed by the French Health Minister to healthcare workers, where Olivier Veran calls on yet unvaccinated healthcare workers to get a vaccine for common welfare.
In the letter, the Minister notes that as of March 5, every third healthcare worker has been vaccinated, but it is not enough. It, however, does not mean that the remaining part of doctors refuse to get vaccinated. (mathemania.com) The large-scale vaccination is still underway in France.
A day after releasing the letter, the French Health Minister wrote on his Twitter that as a result of large-scale mobilization, 220,000 doctors, nurses, firemen and local officials got their COVID-19 shots on Saturday, March 6 that is almost twice more compared to the figures of last Saturday.
The Ministry of Solidarity and Health of France announced that as of March 10, 4,321,474 people have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, while 2,102,490 people have got their second doses.
It is noteworthy that unlike other countries, French health workers were not initially in the priority vaccination group. At the start of the vaccination campaign in late December, only care home beneficiaries and disabled people living in special medical facilities were eligible to get vaccinated. From January 18, the priority groups included people above 75, while from February 6 – healthcare workers and firemen above 50. Starting from March 2, any representative of medical sphere, including students and residents having contacts with patients are eligible to receive a vaccine.
The French are among the most skeptical of vaccines in Europe. It is mainly linked to lack of confidence in political leaders, as well as disappointment of medical staff with failed attempts to develop a vaccine in France. Initially, France launched vaccination using Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. It is worth noting that on February 2, French President Emmanuel Macron said the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was “almost ineffective” in the over-65s. Later, France purchased the vaccine and is now actively administering it. President Macron said that he would gladly accept being vaccinated with the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine if it were offered when his turn comes.
The European Union has criticized the French government for slow vaccination process on multiple occasions; however, with the pace of vaccination being accelerated, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said that France aims to have vaccinated at least 10 million people by mid-April, and a total of 30 million by the summer.
Mano Beridze-ს პოსტის არქივი
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