- Title: France meets 10 million vaccinations target, but doubts over AstraZeneca grow
- Date: 8th April 2021
- Summary: SAINT-DENIS, FRANCE (APRIL 8, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WOMAN MEASURING PEOPLE'S TEMPERATURE VARIOUS OF MARIANNE DUSSAUD GETTING VACCINATED WITH MODERNA JAB (SOUNDBITE) (French) 63-YEAR-OLD RETIREE, MARIANNE DUSSAUD, SAYING: "There is so much suspicion around this vaccine (the AstraZeneca vaccine) that if it had been this one, I wouldn't have come to get vaccinated. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know, but we don't have a lot of perspective on these vaccines. So, if after only one month, problems manifest around it (the AstraZeneca vaccine), I prefer to avoid it." VARIOUS OF CHRISTIAN DESWARTE GETTING VACCINATED MODERNA VACCINE VIALS (SOUNDBITE) (French) CHRISTIAN DESWARTE, 73 YEARS OLD, SAYING: "If we can avoid it (the AstraZeneca vaccine), why not? I prefer not to take the risk. Even if it is very small. With bad luck, you can have trouble so it's better to avoid it if we can." TARP ON SIDE OF VACCINATION BOOTH WITH TEXT READING (French) "Vaccination at the Stade de France Against COVID-19, I get vaccinated" VARIOUS OF REGISTER OFFICE WHERE PEOPLE CHECK IN FOR THEIR APPOINTMENT (SOUNDBITE) (French) 48-YEAR-OLD DOCTOR, ELODIE HERVIEUX, SAYING: "If we listen to everyone, there is a bit of doubt and I think that AstraZeneca doesn't get good publicity these days.'' JOURNALIST ASKING: "Would you have come to get vaccinated here even if it had been with the AstraZeneca jab?" ELODIE HERVIEUX ANSWERING: "Yes, yes. I think the emergency is to get vaccinated so we shouldn't ask ourselves questions and trust doctors, who tell us to get vaccinated." VARIOUS OF HEALTH WORKERS AND PEOPLE WAITING FOR THEIR TURN TO GET VACCINATED EXTERIOR OF STADE DE FRANCE
- Embargoed: 22nd April 2021 15:57
- Keywords: AstraZeneca Castex Covid-19 France Vaccine
- Location: SAINT-DENIS & NOGENT-SUR-MARNE, FRANCE
- City: SAINT-DENIS & NOGENT-SUR-MARNE, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Europe,Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA003E7NXMPZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: More than 10 million people in France have now received the first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, with the government's target for that number reached a week ahead of schedule, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday (April 8).
"The whole country just passed the (target of) 10 million people having received a first (COVID-19 vaccine) shot," the Prime Minister told reporters after a visit to a vaccination centre. "That means we are one week ahead of the target I had set."
France is hoping a ramp-up of its vaccination campaign along with a month-long nationwide lockdown in place since last weekend will help it regain control over the latest outbreak.
At the French national stadium north of Paris, 4,000 shots have been given since the centre opened on Tuesday (April 6). It aims to give 10,000 Pfizer or Moderna shots each week, operating from Monday to Saturday between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m.
While vaccine candidates at the Stade de France seemed comfortable with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, they were wary of the AstraZeneca shot.
"There is so much suspicion around this vaccine that if it had been this one, I wouldn't have come to get vaccinated," 63-year-old retiree Marianne Dussaud told Reuters. "If after only one month, problems manifest around (the AstraZeneca vaccine), I prefer to avoid it."
A poll by Odoxa-Backbone Consulting commissioned by French newspaper Le Figaro and published on Thursday found 71 percent of French people did not trust the Astrazeneca vaccine.
The European Medicines Agency said on Wednesday (April 7) that the Anglo-Swedish laboratory's vaccine had possible links with very rare blood clots and low blood platelet counts, but reiterated that its advantages outweighed its risks and recommended no age or gender limits for its use.
In France, the Astrazeneca shot is so far reserved for people aged 55 to 69 years old given priority based on their profile, such as having comorbidities or working in the health sector, as well as for people above the age of 70.
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