Spring arrives in Paris, along with another Covid-19 blockade

This blockade is less severe than the original that paralyzed France a year ago. It is limited to Paris and 15 other areas of France that have been hit hard by the spread of Covid-19 variants. Parisians can venture 10 kilometers from their homes with a permit, unlike last year, when the limit was one kilometer.

But France’s third blockade is perhaps the most demoralizing. The country looked abroad with envy, as vaccines were developed in record time and implanted so quickly in the United States and the United Kingdom that France began to wonder whether it was also on the verge of economic renewal.

Instead, Paris’ cafes and bistros are closed indefinitely. The Louvre is sealed. The Eiffel Tower is deserted. And the vaccine queue is very long.

“My sister lives in New York – she was vaccinated and is younger than me,” said Cyril Dunn, a 54-year-old leather craftsman. “In France, there are still vulnerable people who have not been vaccinated. I know 85-year-olds who are still waiting for an appointment. “

President Emmanuel Macron’s crisis management has been particularly irritating for many French people. The former investment banker has been firm in following the European Union’s decision to collectively acquire supplies of vaccines – an approach that has led to a shortage of vaccines across France and the rest of the continent. As of Friday, only 8% of France’s population had received a single dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and only 3% had been fully vaccinated.

Mr. Macron also fueled skepticism about a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca PLC that many European health officials consider crucial to turning the tide of the pandemic.

In late January, Macron told a group of reporters that the vaccine was almost ineffective for people over 65, without providing evidence to support his claim. His government then reversed the course in early March – releasing it for use in older people – only to stop using the vaccine this week, after reports that people who received it in other parts of Europe developed rare blood clots and some died.

On Thursday, Macron Prime Minister Jean Castex said the country would resume using the AstraZeneca vaccine after the European Union health agency said it was safe and effective and did not increase the risk of blood clots. Mr. Castex received the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday to reinforce the government’s message.

The zigzag deepened the confusion in a country that has a history of hesitation in vaccination.

“I don’t understand why they stopped,” said Eric Vigor, a 52-year-old banker. “If I could be vaccinated, I would do it immediately – with AstraZeneca too.”

Jean Benmussa, a 74-year-old retiree who lives in the suburb of Saint-Mandé, east of Paris, said that millions of people who had already taken the vaccines convinced him that the vaccines were safe, not the government.

“It has been the same with everything. The whole management of the pandemic was absurd, ”he said.

Frustrations are increasing especially with Macron’s approach to the last block. He rejected calls from city officials to block Paris in the dead of winter, when the weather was freezing and variants of the virus were beginning to spread across the country.

Now, the Paris hospital system is on the brink, forcing authorities to transfer patients to areas with fewer cases. Across the country, intensive care units are 83% full.

Waiting until spring to impose a blockade, Macron also postponed the possibility of reopening France’s economy. French officials said they expected the blockade to reduce 0.2% of France’s gross domestic product this year.

This is a bitter pill for companies across the country that have been closed since November. When France came out of its second blockade in mid-December, Macron stipulated that restaurants and bars should remain closed to reduce social contact. The same rule applies to museums, concert halls and other places where people gather.

“What matters most to the economy is the lack of progress in lifting restrictions,” said Andrew Kenningham, chief economist for Europe at Capital Economics, who expected a big increase in France’s economic output in the second quarter. “We had anticipated that governments would now be preparing to ease restrictions, or would even be doing so.”

For now, Parisians are learning to contain the excitement of spring. Earlier this month, Parisians migrated to the banks of the Seine amid a period of hot weather. The national police force, subordinate to the central government, responded by sending columns of police to the banks of the river to remove them.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the operation was shocking, adding that the government acted without informing it in advance.

“You can intervene when people are not distancing themselves socially or when they are drinking without masks. But the scenes I saw were not like that ”, said Hidalgo. “There were a lot of parents with baby strollers, people strolling.”

Write to Stacy Meichtry at [email protected] and Matthew Dalton at [email protected]