40 Europe The EconomistJanuary 30th 2021
21had a first Pfizer jab, some parts of Europe,
such as Romania and bits of Italy, have al-
ready slowed down inoculations. Back-of-
the-envelope estimates suggest far fewer
first jabs could be administered than in re-
cent weeks, at precisely the time Europe
was hoping to increase them. That might
mean longer lockdowns, deeper economic
slumps and more irate voters (such as in
the Netherlands, where riots broke out on
three consecutive nights over curfews).
The delivery delays focused attention
on the commission’s role as the central
purchaser for the vaccine. Each country go-
ing it alone might have resulted in an un-
seemly free-for-all, leaving some Euro-
peans jabbed and others not. But this left
the European Commission in charge of a
purchasing contract of the sort usually
handled by member states. Unlike them,
the Brussels bureaucracy is not well-versed
in the intricacies of placing multi-billion-
euro orders for the likes of fighter jets and
new hospitals. Partly as a result, eudeals to
secure vaccines were signed several
months after those in Britain and America.
As much as it has huffed and puffed, the
euseems to have little recourse against
AstraZeneca. The contract it signed is not
public, but another one, thought to be sim-
ilar, is. It suggests that vaccine suppliers
hold all the cards in case of delays. Pascal
Soriot, the boss of AstraZeneca, said the
deal his firm signed with the euwas “not a
commitment” to Europe, merely a promise
to try to supply doses quickly. In an inter-
view with European newspapers, he said
the euwas being treated fairly—but that it
should have tempered its expectations,
and placed its order earlier.
Having pre-fed AstraZeneca all the car-
rot and left itself with no stick, Europe is
left with few options. It is hardly likely to
cancel its order of vaccines—a delayed jab
is almost infinitely better than none at all.
Any money that the commission could re-
coup would be insignificant, and would
probably take years to arrive.
Hence the explosive idea from Mr
Spahn to curb exports. Such an approach
would jar with European proclamations of
the importance of free trade, and of sharing
vaccine supplies beyond the rich world.
Others despaired. How could the eucredi-
bly deal with protectionism by, say, India if
it used export controls itself as a first resort
in a scrap over vaccines, wondered one dip-
lomat. “We feared a Singapore-on-Thames
[in the shape of post-Brexit Britain]; these
ideas are turning us into Cuba-on-the-
Seine.” As tempers cooled, the commission
seemed minded to implement a softer
“transparency mechanism” designed not
to block shipments but to track them. But
the row is not over, and if the delays contin-
ue or worsen, the threat of export restric-
tions seems likely to re-emerge. In a crisis,
it is often every man for himself, after all. 7T
he logooutside the vaccination centre
shows a red-caped Super Granny zap-
ping the spiked coronavirus with one fist,
while clutching a medical syringe in the
other. Named “Chez Mauricette”, a nod to
the first French patient vaccinated against
covid-19, the place sounds more like a
friendly local café than a health clinic. In
the industrial town of Poissy, north-west of
Paris, this is a deft antidote to grim times,
and an effort to confront the peculiar scep-
ticism of the French. “People are exhausted
and anxious,” says Karl Olive, the town’s
centre-right mayor, and a former football
referee: “They need a bit of fun.”
On a recent weekday afternoon, pa-
tients wait calmly to be seen by a doctor be-
fore moving into a vaccination cubicle.
After opening on January 7th, this centre is
now jabbing over 600 arms a week. Alain
and Anne-Marie Guillaume celebrated
their 60th wedding anniversary there by
getting an injection each. Poissy was the
first centre to open outside a hospital or
care home. Rather than waiting for region-
al health authorities to draw up a map, Mr
Olive put in phone calls to the right people
and told them his centre was ready to go. It
was approved. “You can’t expect everything
from the central state,” says Mr Olive. “May-
ors in France can solve problems too.”
Poissy’s can-do defiance says much
about the weaknesses of the French state,
which contributed to a glacial early vacci-
nation roll-out. This surprised many ad-mirers of France’s well-financed and nor-
mally efficient health system. Indeed the
number of daily covid-19 deaths in France
is now the lowest per head among big Euro-
pean countries. France’s campaign has
now picked up pace, overtaking Germany’s
in daily doses administered per head. Yet
the running total, of 1.2m doses injected by
January 26th, is still lower in France than in
Germany, Italy and Spain—and way behind
Britain. This cannot be blamed only on de-
lays in securing approval and delivering
vaccines, which have affected all the eu
(see previous story). Three specific, linked
problems explain French dawdling.
The first is an inbuilt caution due to the
criminal liability of elected officials in
France. In 1999 Laurent Fabius, a former
prime minister, was charged with man-
slaughter (and later acquitted) in a contam-
inated-blood case. Over 100 legal com-
plaints have been filed against ministers,
including Jean Castex, the prime minister,
and Olivier Véran, the health minister. So
health policymakers struggle to weigh
risks and benefits dispassionately.
A second is the surprisingly strong anti-
vaxxer sentiment in France, land of Louis
Pasteur. In December just 42% told a poll
they would get a jab. Part of this hesitancy
stems from French health scandals, in-
cluding the ongoing prosecution of a drug
company over deaths of diabetics, and a
massive over-ordering of vaccines against
h 1 n1 (swine flu) in 2009. Conspiracy theo-
ries about big pharma blend with the anti-
elite sentiment behind the gilets jaunes
(yellow jackets) or Didier Raoult, a Mar-
seille doctor who pushed hydroxychloro-
quine to treat covid-19. The French, con-
cluded the government, needed
ultra-careful handling. “It was a choice,”
says a government source; “If we’d said
‘let’s just go for it’, people would have said
they don’t trust us.”
Far from colliding with the administra-
tion’s instincts, deliberate prudence
matched them. This is a third factor: a cen-
tralised French system that tends to preferPOISSY
Why France has taken so long to
accelerate its vaccination roll-outVaccinations in FrancePasteur’s lament
Leaders and laggards
Covid-19 vaccination doses administered per 100
people,selectedcountries,atJanuary27th2021*Source:OurWorldinData *OrlatestavailableFranceSwedenGermanyPolandCanadaItalySpainUnited StatesBritainIsrael50403020100To arms, citizens!