‘Zen’, a word the French overuse to describe harmonious, peaceful situations isn’t one you’d ordinarily use of the hyperactive, sometimes brutal Sarkozy. A successful Minister of the Interior (Home Secretary), a position he held twice, he ran his party, and then Cabinet, like a military operation, brooking no interference and firing underperforming ministers without qualms. His hair-trigger temper often plunged his communications team into despair. Visiting the annual Paris Agricultural Fair in 2008 (an essential walkabout in a country where the farming lobby is strong) he shot back to a visitor who’d thrown a casual insult at him, ‘Get lost, you moron!’ in full view of a brace of TV cameras.
Paris, France – Jean Debouche is not “against” vaccines. In fact, the 80-year-old says he is among the first in line to get the flu shot every year.
But when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine, the retired truck driver says there is no way he will be getting inoculated, even if he is eligible.
“We don’t know what’s inside it,” the lifelong Paris resident said of the vaccine.
France started rolling out the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on December 27, along with other European Union members.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Debouche said he was sceptical because France was prioritising vaccinations for nursing home residents.