“We inject a vaccine, not the demon”, retorts Aurélien Rousseau in the face of the controversy over vaccination in private colleges

The vaccination campaign against human papillomavirus (HPV) for 5th grade students started Monday, October 2 in all public colleges and in private colleges under voluntary contracts. These vaccination operations will take place in total “in 7,000 colleges, including 1,500 private”, explains Tuesday October 3 on France Inter Aurélien Rousseau, Minister of Health and Prevention. He claims that the government “will check” that these private establishments under contract “be [réellement] engaged in this campaign”. He also hopes that this figure will increase next year.

Aurélien Rousseau recognizes that there is “a blind spot” as part of this vaccination campaign, since it is not imposed on all private establishments, but based on voluntary participation. He recalls that “it’s not [lui] who signed the circular allowing this volunteering. However, he wants to respond to the controversy: “We inject a vaccine, not the demon”, he maintains. Aurélien Rousseau addresses here particularly those who say that this vaccination “would be an incitement to debauchery”. He thus recalls that this vaccine “protects against cervical cancer, anal cancer, vaginal cancer and even vulvar cancer”. “Maybe some people find it offensive to say these words, but 5th grade children have all heard it, whether they are in public or private.”he says.

The Minister of Health and Prevention also hopes that the number of private colleges under voluntary contracts will increase next year. In the meantime, if he says “understand that [certains] parents and children, in conscience, do not want to be vaccinated”he considers that there is “a major problem” when “establishments and structures say they will not organize” the vaccination. Despite everything, he is convinced that “reason in the noblest sense of the term will prevail over the rest.”