Will charging for PCR tests change the mind of some French people to get vaccinated? Is this really the best idea? These are the questions being asked.

Awareness-raising was the means adopted by the French government to encourage people to get vaccinated. Now, they are going to charge for PCR tests. A new strategy to encourage the call for vaccination. Some think this idea would encourage people to use the vaccine, others find it a mistake.

Gabriel Attal, the government spokesman, had already warned, at the end of April, that it was not planned to return to the free PCR tests. On Monday 28 June, he reiterated that access to this process should be left open to this possibility.

The French Academy of Medicine suggested last week that reimbursement for tests performed on people with no symptoms of Covid-19 or contact cases should be discontinued, except for those who leave on holiday. These tests represent a significant cost for social security: about €30 for antigenic tests and about €70 for PCR tests carried out in the laboratory.

Everyone should be vaccinated

Ideas are born, and debates immediately follow. A member of the French Academy of Medicine, Patrick Berche, is totally in favour of charging for the tests in order to encourage people to be vaccinated. "We really need people to understand that they need to be vaccinated and that it is the only way to avoid or reduce the wave that is likely to arrive in September," he said.

It's not a question of annoying people, according to Patrick, but of making them aware that there is a free solution during such a health crisis. So, to have a health pass that allows you to travel. It's better than doing a test every time, two days before, and repeating it if necessary.

He took the example of Germany and Spain, where PCR tests are not free of charge. A PCR test for Germany costs 150€, and 100 € for Spain and Portugal. This is a considerable sum for him, whereas the vaccine is free.

On the other hand, François Blachecotte, president of the Syndicat national des biologistes, is not in favour of this strategy, as the Delta virus is starting to spread in France. It would be a mistake and would discourage people from getting tested, he says.

François' fears are based on the modest unvaccinated people who want to be tested for fear of carrying the virus but have not been able to do so due to lack of means. "Charging for the tests would be counterproductive," he concludes.

 Will France proceed with this new measure in the face of the arrival of the new Delta variant, presumed to be even more dangerous and devastating than the others?

Santie

Photo Credit : Atlas Magazine

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