In Alpes-De-Haute-Provence, 199 firefighters have been suspended due to their refusal to comply with the vaccine obligation against Covid-19, which has been in force for this profession since September 15.
On September 30, on news outlet BFMTV, the director of the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service of Alpes-De-Haute-Provence Christophe Paichoux declared that 199 firefighters – out of the more than 1500 in the department – had been put on leave due to their refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19 .
“To date, in the SDIS of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, we have 199 firefighters who remain suspended for reasons of non-compliance with the vaccination obligation […] Two weeks ago, we had 280 firefighters who did not fulfill the vaccination obligation,” announced Christophe Paichoux, who interpreted this drop as a sign that “the commitment is stronger than the concerns related to this vaccination”. His mention of a “committment” is somewhat ridiculous, since it concerns the livelihood of firefighters.
“It’s too many though,” he added. The vaccine obligation against Covid-19 came into force on September 15 for 2,7 million first-responder professionals: hospitals, retirement homes, private caregivers, home helpers, firefighters, ambulance attendants. According to the law of August 5, offenders who do not comply “can no longer exercise their activity”.