MACRON IN OXFORD JAB VOLTE-FACE
He says he WOULD take it... weeks after claiming it was only ‘quasi-effective’
FRENCH president Emmanuel Macron has said he would take the Oxford vaccine – after previously questioning its effectiveness.
His U-turn is an attempt to persuade a reluctant French public to get the jab as the EU rollout continues to lag well behind that of the Uk.
Just four per cent of the French population have been vaccinated so far, compared with nearly 28 per cent here.
French officials are concerned that hostility towards the Oxford- AstraZeneca jab – stoked by Mr Macron’s comments last month that it was only ‘quasi- effective’ in the over-65s – could set back the campaign still further.
It came after German chancellor Angela Merkel, 66, refused the Oxford jab because the German authorities had not yet approved it for over-65s.
And yesterday former Prime Minister Tony Blair waded into the row by saying the EU should ‘learn lessons’ from Britain.
Mr Macron caused controversy last month when he claimed that the Oxford shot did not always work in those aged over 65.
But yesterday he insisted he would have the vaccine if offered it – although, at 43, he is not presently in the age group being inoculated.
Backtracking on his previous claims the president, who caught Covid-19 in December and spent seven days in isolation, said studies had proved the jab’s efficacy.
With the kent variant of coronavirus spreading across France and cases at the highest level since november, there have been growing calls for a third lockdown in the country on top of an existing 6pm curfew.
Speaking to authorities in France, Mr Macron said of the Oxford jab: ‘If that’s the vaccine that’s offered to me, I will take it, of course.’
The vaccine was made available to health professionals on February 7 and to patients with underlying conditions this week. But with the French media full of reports that it produces greater side- effects than the Pfizer or Moderna jabs, take-up has been slow and there have been reports of stockpiling of supplies.
Mr Blair criticised the way the EU had handled its rollout of the vaccines.
He told the Institute for Government: ‘The reality is that the European Commission should just learn a simple lesson from it, which is in future when you’ve got a situation like this, do what the British government and the American administration both did: put the purchase of vaccines in the hands of a small number of people, a dedicated team who are experts in doing precisely what you need done.’
Asked about concerns in the EU over the Oxford vaccine, he said: ‘You need to make sure that there is information out there that is proper and accurate. So this whole business of AstraZeneca and the over-65s is based on a complete misunderstanding.’
He said that there weren’t enough older people in the trial to demonstrate its effectiveness, but pointed out that there was now real-world data showing that it worked.
He added: ‘So it’s a mistake if countries are turning that vaccine away on those grounds.’