France better at torching cars than jabs
TO the dismay of its citizens, France was lamentably slow over the New Year to roll out its Covid vaccination programme.
But the country continues to be bizarrely efficient at torching cars, which has become an annual tradition, with vandals burning 861 vehicles on December 31.
That figure is more than twice the number of people – 352 – inoculated between December 27 and 31.
It’s a startling statistic that hasn’t escaped the notice of President Emmanuel Macron’s critics.
Now the President is seeking to put some fire under the rollout to catch up with other countries.
Much of the blame has been laid at the door of the EU, which was slow to pre-order vaccines.
But the French government has also faced criticism over red tape.
The first set of vaccines, restricted to elderly care home residents, require a signed consent form and a doctor’s consultation.
Dr Eric Alamartine, from SaintEtienne hospital in central France, told the BBC: ‘We are dealing with a technocratic system which is not reactive enough.’
In his New Year’s address, Mr Macron said he would ‘not let an unjustified slowness take hold’. He added: ‘Every French person who wants to must be able to get vaccinated.’
On Friday, Prime Minister Jean Castex admitted that France had lagged behind other countries but defended the decision to prioritise the most vulnerable.
Mr Castex said that everyone over 75 will be able to have the vaccine from January 18 as part of a new plan to speed up the process.
France recorded 19,814 new Covid cases on Friday, taking its total to almost 2.75million since the pandemic began, and a total death toll of 67,431. Britain, which declined the EU’s invitation to join its procurement programme last July, is independently able to authorise vaccines, which allowed it to start its rollout much faster.
The French craze for setting cars ablaze on New Year’s Eve started in the 1990s as a form of protest. It has since become an annual event.
Meanwhile, in Germany, there is public anger that some of the hundreds of vaccine centres are still not in use. Chancellor Angela Merkel has been accused of failing to secure enough doses.
In Spain, more than 275,000 people have been vaccinated.