AFP – Government spokesman Gabriel Attal announced to BFMTV on Sunday “a plan to strengthen our testing policy” in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic, including the deployment of “several hundred” screening near vaccination centers.
“Almost 10 million people” are tested per week but the queues are getting longer, admitted Mr. Attal, indicating that “we (were going to) increase the number of testing centers”.
“We are going to ask for the opening of screening centers near the vaccination centers”, so that at low vaccination times, the professionals on the spot can perform tests, said the spokesperson for the government.
“The second measure is to allow pharmacists to create their screening centers. We will give them the possibility of recruiting themselves temporarily health professionals who will come to work in their own small screening center so that there is more screenings done in pharmacies, “he added.
In addition, it is according to him “to further expand the people authorized to do tests”, with Sunday morning a new decree published on the issue.
Finally, regarding self-tests, there are 6 million in stock in pharmacies, which “will receive an additional 10 million” next week, Mr. Attal said.
“We will guarantee the 6,000 pharmacies that do not do antigenic tests and self-tests that we will compensate the stocks that they would have ordered and that they would not sell,” assured Mr. Attal.
The massive screening policy is currently very expensive and complicated to organize. “We assume it”, argued the spokesperson for the government. “Of course it makes sense to test” and “we will always push our testing capabilities to the maximum,” he said, insisting on the idea that “testing is an essential tool in controlling the epidemic. “.
Regarding the vaccination pass, which was to come into force on January 15, the Secretary of State indicated that due to the delay in examining the dedicated bill, this tool will be implemented “at the latest within first days of the week of January 17 “.