The French ambassador says SA should consider a vaccine mandate, after such a move led to a successful rollout in France and its economy opening up, despite hesitancy and a slow uptake in that country just six months ago.
“We had to do it, it was a temporary measure that was in the national interest. It got the economy opened and is eased the pressure on healthcare. France is a different place today, we are coming out of the Covid-19 health pandemic. It is a new day,” France’s ambassador to SA, Aurélien Lechevallier, said in an exclusive interview with Business Day this week.
Meanwhile in SA, more than six months after the first vaccine was administered and hundreds of vaccine sites have been opened — mostly by the government — around the country, the number of people who were vaccinated dropped to record low levels this week yet again. Just 100,000 jabs were administered in a 24-hour period, a far cry from the 300,000 a day target set by the government to ensure 70% of the population get the jab to guard against Covid-19, by December 2021.
In France, the rate of infection, hospitalisation and death has plummeted as a result of the vaccination. According to reports, much of the French economy has returned to pre-Covid-19 normality, and the travel and tourism sector is now booming at record highs.
That is compared with a Euronews survey released in March that showed high levels of scepticism. It showed two-thirds of respondents said they would not take the coronavirus vaccine (42%) while 21% were unsure about whether to have it. Just 37% in France said they would take the jab, while the vast majority in Italy (71.3%) and Germany (63%) said they would have it.
That led to the French government imposing a vaccine passport — a social compact with business and labour that did not compel citizens to vaccinate themselves but limited their rights to movement and social activities including access to sporting events and restaurants.
“It was a tough decision for the president and the cabinet. It was difficult for people to understand at first because it constrained their freedom of movement. But the response was amazing. In one a week vaccine sites were full and in two months the rate of [Covid-19] vaccination doubled. It was incredible. Yes, there were protests but that faded away,” Lechevallier said.
He added that although there were threats of legal action, there was no basis for such. “It was a decision in the public good. To be responsible for others is in the national interest”.
He added that was businesses that mostly imposed a vaccine mandate. “It was not compulsory to get the vaccine but if one did not, it limited their right to movement and to enjoy social activities,” Lechevallier said.
When asked how it was that businesses such as restaurants and hotels supported a decision to impose the vaccine mandate, Lechevallier said they had received “support” from the government during the lockdown, which shut down economic activity to preserve human life, “so there was little resistance”.
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