PARIS (AP) — France has taken a low-key approach to its virus vaccine launch because of widespread French skepticism around the vaccines.
The first French shots were injected Sunday into the arm of 78-year-old Mauricette, a woman in a long-term care facility near Paris. President Emmanuel Macron appealed to his compatriots to have “trust in our researchers and doctors.”
But many French people fear that the drugs were developed too quickly, are aimed at bringing profit to big pharmaceutical companies, or risk long-term side effects that remain unknown.
Many remember French health scandals in recent decades. Doctors hope that hesitancy will fade as more people get the vaccines.
