Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

POLITICS

Macron: AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine seems to be ‘quasi-ineffective’ for over 65s

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine appeared not to be effective for people over 65 years of age.

Published: 29 January 2021 19:51 CET
Macron: AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine seems to be 'quasi-ineffective' for over 65s
Photo: AFP

Speaking to reporters only hours before the European Medecines Agency (EMA) recommended the vaccine for adults of all ages, Macron said there was “very little information” available for the vaccine developed by the British-Swedish company and Oxford University.

“Today we think that it is quasi-ineffective for people over 65,” he told the reporters, his office confirmed to AFP.

“What I can tell you officially today is that the early results we have are not encouraging for 60 to 65-year-old people concerning AstraZeneca,” he said.

Macron said he was awaiting the EMA's verdict – which came later Friday – and also that of France's own health authority “because they have the numbers”.

The French expert decision on the vaccine is expected at the start of next week, according to sources close to the health authority.

“I don't have any data, and I don't have a scientific team of my own to look at the numbers,” Macron acknowledged.

Meanwhile, Germany's vaccine commission on Friday maintained its advice against using AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccines on older people.   

“The reason is because there is currently insufficient data on the effectiveness of the vaccines on people above 65 years old,” said the commission known as STIKO.

The advice by the panel of medical experts will be taken into account by the government as it officially draws up its decree on usage of the vaccine.

The discussion about the right target age group for the vaccine has compounded controversy surrounding AstraZeneca's vaccine.

The European Commission Friday published a redacted version of its contract with the drugs giant, hoping to prove the company had breached a commitment on vaccine deliveries.

Brussels is furious with the pharmaceuticals company after it warned that it would only be able to deliver a fraction of the doses the EU had been expecting once the vaccine is approved for use in the bloc.

Member comments

  1. The Astra Zenecka vaccine is fine for all age groups, we are told in the UK. I am honestly fine about having it. This vaccine is non-profit making so cheap for all customers. So let’s have more appreciation and less panic and complaining .

  2. As the president says he doesnt have any information, numbers nor the people to advise. Never mind his comments I would just about accept any vaccine rather than have this continuous broken promise litany.

  3. Don’t worry. Given the EU and Macron’s attacks on the vaccine manufacturers, you won’t be able to get the vaccine anyway.

  4. AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, or Moderna, I give my turn to someone else. I won’ have any. No sufficient proof that it works or how long we will be covered, etc. Have been seriously ill after two vaccinations in the past, I am not risking it. I have been a good girl since before the first lockdown in March 2020, respecting social distancing, washing my hands more often than usual, wearing a face-mask during and after lockdowns, carrying wipes, and disinfectant in my bag. And to top it all, Christmas 2019 was the last time I saw my daughter and grandchildren living in another Euroean country, non EU if you see what I mean. There is a German saying: Patience brings roses.

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

ELECTIONS

Will Macron resign in case of a French election disaster?

The polling is not looking good for president Emmanuel Macron's party in the snap elections that he called just two weeks ago. So will he resign if it all goes wrong?

Published: 25 June 2024 09:00 CEST
Will Macron resign in case of a French election disaster?

On Sunday, June 9th, the French president stunned Europe when he called snap parliamentary elections in France, in the wake of humiliating results for his centrist group in the European elections.

The French president has the power to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections – but this power is rarely used and in recent decades French parliaments have run on fixed terms. Very few people predicted Macron’s move.

But polling for the fresh elections (held over two rounds on June 30th and July 7th) is looking very bad for the president’s centrist Renaissance party – currently trailing third behind Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National and the combined leftist group Nouveau Front Populaire.

Listen to the team from The Local discussing all the election latest in the new episode of the Talking France podcast. Download here or listen on the link below

The election was a gamble for Macron – but if his gamble fails will he resign?

What does the law and the constitution say?

Legally, Macron does not need to resign. In France the presidential and the parliamentary elections are separate – Macron himself was re-elected in 2022 with a five-year mandate (until May 2027).

His party failing to gain a parliamentary majority does not change that – in fact the centrists failed to gain a overall majority in the 2022 parliamentary elections too (although they remained the largest party). Since then, the government has limped on, managing to pass some legislation by using constitutional powers.

The constitution also offers no compulsion or even a suggestion that the president should resign if he fails to form a government.

In fact the current constitution (France has had five) gives a significant amount of power to the president at the expense of parliament – the president has the power to dissolve parliament (as Macron has demonstrated), to set policy on areas including defence and diplomacy and to bypass parliament entirely and force through legislation (through the tool known as Article 49.3). 

In fact there are only three reasons in the constitution that a president would finish their term of office early; resigning, dying in office or being the subject of impeachment proceedings.

Since 1958, only one president has resigned – Charles de Gaulle quit in 1969 after the failure of a referendum that he had backed. He died 18 months later, at the age of 79.  

OK, but is he likely to resign?

He says not. In an open letter to the French people published over the weekend, Macron wrote: “You can trust me to act until May 2027 as your president, protector at every moment of our republic, our values, respectful of pluralism and your choices, at your service and that of the nation.”

He insisted that the coming vote was “neither a presidential election, nor a vote of confidence in the president of the republic” but a response to “a single question: who should govern France?”

So it looks likely that Macron will stay put.

And he wouldn’t be the first French president to continue in office despite his party having failed to win a parliamentary majority – presidents François Mitterand and Jacques Chirac both served part of their term in office in a ‘cohabitation‘ – the term for when the president is forced to appoint an opposition politician as prime minister.

But should he resign?

The choice to call the snap elections was Macron’s decision, it seems he took the decision after discussing it just a few close advisers and it surprised and/or infuriated even senior people in his own party.

If the poll leads to political chaos then, many will blame Macron personally and there will be many people calling for his resignation (although that’s hardly new – Macron démission has been a regular cry from political opponents over the last seven years as he enacted policies that they didn’t like).

Regardless of the morality of dealing with the fallout of your own errors, there is also the practicality – if current polling is to be believed, none of the parties are set to achieve an overall majority and the likely result with be an extremely protracted and messy stalemate with unstable governments, fragile coalitions and caretaker prime ministers. It might make sense to have some stability at the top, even if that figure is extremely personally unpopular.

He may leave the country immediately after the result of the second round, however. Washington is hosting a NATO summit on July 9th-11th and a French president would normally attend that as a representative of a key NATO member. 

You can follow all the latest election news HERE or sign up to receive by email our bi-weekly election breakdown

SHOW COMMENTS