Speaking to TV channel France 2 on Monday, Jean Rottner underlined the “big suffering” in his area, and said he wanted regions to “take over” the rollout from the national government.
According to the latest data made available by the French health agency on January 1, 516 people have been vaccinated in the country. The first shot was administered in France on December 27.
At the beginning of December, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said that 1 million people would able vaccinated by the end of January.
The “Great East” region has been particularly hard hit by France's second wave of Covid-19. It is one of the 15 administrative areas in France where the government has imposed a 6 p.m. curfew in an effort to curb cases.
We are making fun of ourselves because today, being vaccinated has become more complicated than buying a car,” Rottner said.
Regarding the speed of the rollout, Rottner added that this was “bulls**t."
“We need to accelerate, we are at war ... Today, we need to vaccinate everywhere we can, with the means that are at our disposal," he said.
The controversy over the vaccine rollout has prompted French government officials to try and improve the process.
In Emmanuel Macron's New Year’s Eve address the French President said he “would not let, for wrong reasons, an unjustified slowness settle." Health minister Olivier Véran has also announced an accelerated timetable for vaccinations.