Yesterday marked the start of the grand vaccination program against le grippe A (otherwise known as swine flu) in France. And met by an overwhelming lack of enthusiasm. Granted, for the first couple of weeks only priority cases (young children, pregnant women, the infirm) are eligible, but in the Rhône department, a grand total of 93 people turned up for the jab. Government spokesmen tried hard yesterday to counteract the negative publicity about the safety of the vaccine (particularly the sort with adjuvant added), but weren't helped by the news that a doctor who had the jab a few weeks ago has contracted a syndrome affecting the nervous system, which is possibly linked.
Elsewhere this weekend, the French are preoccupied by the upcoming World Cup playoff against Ireland. The first match, at Croke Park, is being approached with a certain amount of trepidation - the atmosphere in the ground, state of the pitch, anticipated bad weather, never-say-die ('British') attitude and unbeaten qualifying campaign of the men in green are all quoted factors in why Les Bleus might not do so well in the Emerald Isle. On verra...
Meanwhile, there was one small regret over our trip to the UK last weekend: we missed the game of the season at Gerland. The match between OL and OM finished 5-5! Lyon led 1-0, then 2-1, only to find themselves 4-2 down with less than ten minutes left. Then, just as they were celebrating one of the comebacks of all time, leading 5-4 as the 90 minutes were up, Marseille scrambled an equaliser (an own goal, to top it all) in time added on. Un match vraiment fou...
