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Unvaccinated pockets of France expose inequalities and could fuel a winter wave
Europe
Unvaccinated pockets of France expose inequalities and could fuel a winter wave
By Rick Noack
Today at 2:00 a.m. EDT
MARSEILLE, France — For eight months, 85-year-old Traki Ismail hesitated to get vaccinated.
She knew that her age, along with high blood pressure and diabetes, put her at high risk of getting sick with the coronavirus. And that risk increased as building after building around her became a covid hot spot. Yet twice she canceled vaccination appointments over fears about serious side effects.
It was only when helicopters began airlifting patients out of this city’s saturated hospitals that she changed her mind.
“People say I will die if I get the vaccine. But people also say I will die if I don’t get the vaccine,” she said, lying in bed moments after doctor Slim Hadiji, making a home visit, injected a Moderna shot into her arm. “I’ve taken destiny in my own hands, and I’ve done it.”
With 67 percent of residents fully vaccinated, France is now one of Europe’s most immunized nations. The number of new coronavirus cases is in decline, even though restaurants are once again fully booked and maskless partygoers returned to bars and clubs months ago.
But health authorities remain concerned about unvaccinated pockets of the country — pockets that expose stark inequalities and could fuel a winter wave.
{snip}
Northern Marseille, where Ismail lives, has some of Western Europe’s highest poverty levels — and some of its lowest coronavirus vaccination rates. In some neighborhoods, fewer than 35 percent of people were fully vaccinated as of last month, roughly half the rate of Marseille’s richer areas only 15 minutes away.
{snip}
By Rick Noack
Rick Noack is a Paris-based correspondent covering France for The Washington Post. Previously, he was a foreign affairs reporter for The Post based in Berlin. He also worked for The Post from Washington, Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Twitter https://twitter.com/rick_n
Unvaccinated pockets of France expose inequalities and could fuel a winter wave
By Rick Noack
Today at 2:00 a.m. EDT
MARSEILLE, France — For eight months, 85-year-old Traki Ismail hesitated to get vaccinated.
She knew that her age, along with high blood pressure and diabetes, put her at high risk of getting sick with the coronavirus. And that risk increased as building after building around her became a covid hot spot. Yet twice she canceled vaccination appointments over fears about serious side effects.
It was only when helicopters began airlifting patients out of this city’s saturated hospitals that she changed her mind.
“People say I will die if I get the vaccine. But people also say I will die if I don’t get the vaccine,” she said, lying in bed moments after doctor Slim Hadiji, making a home visit, injected a Moderna shot into her arm. “I’ve taken destiny in my own hands, and I’ve done it.”
With 67 percent of residents fully vaccinated, France is now one of Europe’s most immunized nations. The number of new coronavirus cases is in decline, even though restaurants are once again fully booked and maskless partygoers returned to bars and clubs months ago.
But health authorities remain concerned about unvaccinated pockets of the country — pockets that expose stark inequalities and could fuel a winter wave.
{snip}
Northern Marseille, where Ismail lives, has some of Western Europe’s highest poverty levels — and some of its lowest coronavirus vaccination rates. In some neighborhoods, fewer than 35 percent of people were fully vaccinated as of last month, roughly half the rate of Marseille’s richer areas only 15 minutes away.
{snip}
By Rick Noack
Rick Noack is a Paris-based correspondent covering France for The Washington Post. Previously, he was a foreign affairs reporter for The Post based in Berlin. He also worked for The Post from Washington, Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Twitter https://twitter.com/rick_n
