Are vaccination hubs the government’s latest strategy to improve France’s vaccination campaign? This Tuesday March 23, Olivier Véran announced the creation of 35 mega vaccination centers scattered a bit everywhere in the country in April in order to masisvely vaccinate during the upcoming vaccine deliveries. And for good reason: 12 million doses are to be received in April only, increasing the pace of the vaccination campaign.
To give you further details, gyms, stadiums, and other major spaces will be requisitioned to open these vaccination hubs likely to enable to vaccinate 1,000 to 2,000 people per day. A process which logistics is expected to be managed by fire brigades, the army, and the French Red Cross to stay in each department, at a rate of one to two centers depending on the population density. News confirmed this March 22, 2021 by Alain Fischer. Invited on BFMTV, the “government’s M. vaccine” said the army will be involved in setting up these vaccination hubs. “The more professional corps and skills there are to vaccinate, the better it is”, he added.
And to vaccinate, dentists, veterinarians, and even biologists said they were ready to step in to help medical workforces already on the frontlines. Note the Haute Autorité de Santé has to decide this week about the installation of these vaccination hubs.
Vaccination hubs were already talked about in Les Échos daily on March 22. As the executive was first against these big vaccination centers, they seem to do a U-turn. According to Les Echos, the government now bets on these “vaccination super-centers” to speed up the pace and achieve their goal: vaccinating 30 million French by the summer, including 10 million from mid-April and 20 million by mid-May. For the record, as of March 21, 5,630,671 French have been given at least one dose of the vaccine.
Still according to the daily, the first vaccination hub is expected to open in late March, before deployment in April. Goal? Opening one to two vaccination hubs per department in order to vaccinate between 1,000 and 2,000 people a day. On March 20, we learnt that the Stade de France in Île-de-France will also be used, starting April, as a giant vaccination center, while Marseille velodrome has been already turned into a vaccination hub, so has been Nice Palais des Expositions, and Toulon Zenith.
Stade de France vaccination hub: slots available for Moderna vaccine
A major vaccine hub is opening this Tuesday April 6, 2021 within the Stade de France aiming at vaccinating 10,000 people per week. Games scheduled in April are maintained, both activities being fully compatible. Even though Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine slots have been stormed, many slots are still available for Moderna vaccine injections. [Read more]
This past March 6, Vienne prefect also announced the “project to open a vaccination mega-center within Poitiers Parc des Expos” expected by late March.
