The Minister of Health justifies the government’s position by the fact that the BA.2 variant, “very contagious, partially thwarts conventional braking measures”.
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A week after the suspension of the vaccine pass, Olivier Véran remains straight in his boots. While the average number of positive cases for Covid-19, carried by the BA.2 variant, continues to increase, the Minister of Health estimates in an interview published on Sunday March 20 by The Parisian that there is not “no place” to put in place measures to curb the epidemic.
“For two days, the number of hospitalizations has not dropped”observes the minister, who says he expects “see contamination rise until the end of March, before a decline in April”. Olivier Véran, however, believes that “there is no worrying signal” in the intensive care units: “the greatest risk is for the most fragile and the unvaccinated. This is why we invite them to wear their mask and do their booster vaccination”.
The Minister of Health takes the opportunity to challenge the idea that the lifting of restrictions is a gesture “electoralist” during the presidential campaign. “Our only compass has always been the safety and health of the French people. If a new variant threatened us, we would act immediately, presidential election or not!”he insists.
“If we had kept the measures, some would have denounced an electoral maneuver to maintain a level of fear supposedly useful to the president. When we lift them, the same people tell us that it is electoral…”
Olivier Veranat the Parisian
The minister also justifies the government’s position by the situation abroad. “Many of our neighbors are easing their measures like us, and those like Italy who keep the vaccination pass are not spared any more”he explains, implicating the BA.2 variant, “very contagious”and that “partially thwarts conventional braking measures”.