Compulsory vaccination in France: controversial and successful

Employees in the French health care system or in the fire brigade must now prove that they have been vaccinated against the corona virus. But the partial vaccination requirement is still controversial.

The excitement is completely inappropriate, thinks Martin Hirsch. The director of Paris Public Hospitals makes a simple comparison:

A platoon driver must pass an eye test before he can do the job. Our eye test is proof that we cannot infect anyone with Covid-19.

Fears of an even greater staff shortage

Not everyone sees it so calmly and pragmatically. The compulsory vaccination for employees in hospitals and retirement homes, in medical practices and pharmacies, in the fire service and even for medical students causes recurring protests and stress in the already understaffed teams in the clinics.

Cédric Lussiez of the North Essonne Hospital Group fears that even more nurses would be absent: “If employees cannot work because they are not vaccinated, of course their colleagues have to step in and work overtime to fill the gaps.”

Most of the employees are fully vaccinated

How big these gaps will actually be is difficult to predict. According to the French health authority, around 84 percent of healthcare workers are fully vaccinated. Among the freelance doctors or outpatient nurses, the figure is as high as 91 percent.

The responsible trade union, the CGT, warns that the now effective vaccination requirement could mean that fewer patients would be admitted to hospitals and operations would have to be canceled altogether. But many health managers assume that only a very small number of one to two percent of employees will permanently oppose a vaccination. That is why Hirsch is also optimistic:

The week ahead will be tough, but is it worth the effort? The answer is yes. Has the compulsory vaccination led to an increase in the vaccination rate? Yes. Has vaccination led to fewer illnesses and failures in the healthcare system? Clearly – yes.

Non-vaccinated people face suspension

So the vaccination rate is increasing. Because anyone who does not currently show at least the first dose can be suspended by the employer – without payment of a salary.

From mid-October, all 2.7 million employees in the affected occupational groups will have to provide evidence of full vaccination. But the hospitals are resourceful. In Lyon, for example, all hospital employees who have not been vaccinated receive a reminder SMS on their mobile phones – including a preferential reservation in a vaccination center.