Doctors and politicians in France are calling on the government to ramp up its COVID-19 vaccination drive, warning the current strategy risks increasing skepticism around the vaccine.
A letter by the National Academy of Doctors, reported in Le Monde on Thursday, said procedures like collecting consent, checking for medical concerns in a vulnerable population and observing the patient for fifteen minutes after injection are slowing the rollout.
"These excessive precautions risk ... giving rise to a growing misunderstanding of the campaign, whose kick-off seems to lack determination," the letter read.
Fewer than 100 people were vaccinated in the first three days — far fewer than other EU countries.
The academy called for vaccination procedures in nursing homes to be simplified and sped up, and for doses to be prioritized for the most affected regions.
Vaccine skepticism in France has long been a problem. An Ipsos Mori poll this week showed that even as infection rates increased, only 40 percent of French respondents said they would take the vaccine when it becomes available — 14 percentage points lower than the same survey in October.
Politicians from all sides are calling on the government to change tack.
Valérie Rabault, president of the Socialist Party in the National Assembly, called for quicker administration of the vaccine to caregivers in an interview with L’Obs on Wednesday. 
While MPs Damien Abad and Jean Leonetti, from the center-right Les Républicains, called for an emergency hearing with Health Minister Olivier Véran to discuss the vaccine strategy. France, they said, was "wearing Europe's dunce cap," according to France Info.

Earlier in the week, Véran defended the strategy, telling France 2 that collecting consent before vaccination, "is a sign of confidence."
