In another sign that the campaign of COVID-19 vaccination in Europe is far from over, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested last week that the appropriate response to the healthcare crisis is to “vaccinate everything that can be vaccinated.”
“Vaccinate everything that can be vaccinated,” Macron said, “because we avoid the virus. That’s the best response for unburdening the healthcare system and having a healthy population. So, we’re going to continue to work on this aspect.”
Macron’s word choice has attracted particular attention in France, since he literally said that it was necessary to vaccinate “every-thing” (tout ce) and not, say, “everyone” (tous ceux). But even if he had chosen to refer to people as people rather than things, the very idea of “having to vaccinate” people clearly denies them agency—to say nothing of any possibility of informed consent.
