The Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, visiting the Bégin army instruction hospital, in Saint-Mandé on March 7, 2021. – BERTRAND GUAY-POOL / SIPA
As part of the acceleration of the vaccine campaign promised by the executive, the army training hospitals (HIA) are taking action. They are preparing to increase their reception capacities to vaccinate up to 50,000 people per week, the Ministry of the Armed Forces announced on Saturday evening.
“As of April 6, 7 army training hospitals [sur 8] will increase their reception capacities to vaccinate the French population, ”underlines the ministry in a press release. By the end of March, some 24,176 doses of vaccines had been administered by the Army Health Service (SSA), including just over 10,000 to civilians.
Objective: 400,000 injections per day
Engaged in a race against time, the French authorities are betting on a new acceleration of the vaccination campaign, with a promised rate of 400,000 daily injections. With this in mind, the Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly “also asked the armies to be ready to deploy military vaccination centers in the region, according to the needs expressed by the Ministry of Health and Solidarity”, adds her ministry. The location of these centers will be defined in consultation with the prefects and regional health authorities “in areas where this capacity will be most useful”, it is specified.
The Ministry of the Armed Forces also announced Thursday that the army training hospitals would increase the number of their resuscitation beds from 90 beds to around 100, to participate in the national effort to increase these capacities. During the first epidemic wave, in the spring of 2020, the French soldiers had already contributed to the collective effort under the umbrella of Operation “Resilience”: opening of a medical structure for resuscitation in a tent in Mulhouse, transfer of patients by route. air force or reinforcements overseas.