Mandatory reminder for caregivers, vaccination of children … new announcements from Olivier Véran

Faced with the epidemic resumption that France has been facing in recent weeks, the government is adapting. Invited this Saturday on France Inter, the Minister of Health Olivier made a series of announcements the day after that of the Prime Minister. The Omicron variant “is a virus that is known to multiply up to 70 times more in cells once it has infected you. So it is a virus that is much, much, much more contagious than the Delta variant.”, he warned.

“We are going to strengthen the vaccination obligation for carers and firefighters by integrating the third dose from January 30. We do not want, as in Scotland, that we have 25 to 30% of caregivers who cannot work because of they would all be in contact and therefore in quarantine “, explained Olivier Véran on France Inter, evoking the presence of “several hospital clusters of the Omicron variant”.

The Minister of Health also indicated that the vaccination of 5-11 year olds could start from Wednesday. “If all goes well, on the 22nd of the afternoon we will start the vaccination of children in centers adapted for children”, did he declare. The National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE) gave a favorable opinion on Friday for this age group, which is not affected by the health pass or the future vaccination pass.

To strengthen the staffing of vaccination centers, Olivier Véran also announced the recruitment of soldiers, but also of people holding a first aid certificate. “It’s over a million people”, he says. “They will have a 2-hour training course on the internet and a half-day training course in the center to learn how to give an intramuscular injection. Believe me, it is not rocket science”, assured the minister-doctor, who indicates that these people will be paid around 150 euros per half-day.

Finally, the Minister of Health has indicated that the Health Insurance will not cover the Covid-19 self-tests carried out during the holiday season, as had been anticipated by the main union of pharmacists. “The self-test costs 5.20 euros. The PCRs, the antigenic tests are free (for the vaccinated people), we make nearly a million per day, all the costs have been supported from the beginning by the solidarity national “, he argued.

The Federation of Pharmaceutical Unions of France (FSPF) had indicated on Friday that the government was preparing to announce a reimbursement of self-tests up to two per person between December 20 and January 2. Dreadful “strong demand”, this union regretted that pharmacists did not “not warned early enough” to increase their stocks, estimated “between 800,000 and one million self-tests”.

Asked about the next transformation of the health pass into a vaccine pass announced by Jean Castex on Friday evening, Olivier Véran assured that it would allow “to avoid interrupting daily activities for the 90% of French people vaccinated”. He also said he was convinced that the device was “more efficient than a system of fines”. “Asking the question of a health pass to go to work is a legitimate question”, he added.

If the Minister still refuses to go through the vaccination obligation, he nevertheless clearly reaffirms the will of the government: “It’s simple, it’s clear, it’s crystal clear, we want the French to be vaccinated”. “With waves that follow one another – Delta and now Omicron – we cannot continue to consider that this choice not to be vaccinated would be a choice that would have no consequences”, he estimated.

Friday evening, Jean Castex announced that a bill will be presented “early January” to transform the health pass into a vaccination pass. To enter the places subject to this pass, a negative test will no longer suffice: it will necessarily be necessary to have been vaccinated (or cured of the Covid) and to have received a booster dose. The Prime Minister also announced that the deadline for the booster dose will be reduced from January 3 to four months after the previous one instead of five.