A French fire service official says he has received death threats and been harassed after calling for firefighters who have refused the Covid vaccine to remain suspended.
France’s interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, condemned the alleged social media threats against Eric Brocardi, who has reported them to police.
Cmdr Brocardi, who is spokesperson for France’s national federation of firefighters (FNSPF), came under attack after saying that in his view, full-time and voluntary firefighters suspended for refusing the vaccine should not be allowed to return to the service.
France’s fire brigade is divided into two groups: big towns and cities have professional brigades that are part of the military, while the rest of the country has volunteer brigades. According to officials, fewer than 200 professional firefighters out of 41,800, and 5,000 out of 197,000 volunteers have rejected the vaccine and are under suspension.
Critics accused Brocardi of being a “collaborator”, a “traitor” and a “Macron lackey”. Brocardi told Agence France-Presse a number of threats had been reported to police, who were investigating. Darmanin said the threats were “unacceptable … whatever anyone’s opinion”.
The question of whether the unvaccinated firefighters should be allowed to return to work came under scrutiny after France’s fire services said they were understaffed and struggling to deal with widespread fires caused by the summer heatwave and drought.
In an interview at the end of July, Brocardi told Marianne magazine that understaffing had been a serious problem well before the Covid crisis and would still be a problem even if all suspended staff were allowed back to work.
“We need massive recruitment and to make people want to become volunteer firefighters. We’d have the same problems if these firefighters returned to work tomorrow,” he said. He repeated his opposition to their re-employment in the service on French television earlier this week, resulting in more abuse.
The FNSPF also made a police complaint after the threats, said the organisation’s president, Grégory Allione.
In France, official figures suggest just more than 92% of the adult population have been vaccinated against Covid, but vaccine hesitancy persists among those who have refused the jab.
In Toulouse, the authorities have demanded anti-vaccine posters be taken down from private hoardings around the southern city. The posters, claiming the vaccination is dangerous, were paid for by the RéinfoCovid collective and are signed off by the organisation’s “independent scientific committee”.
ReinfoCovid was set up as a citizens’ association in 2020 to oppose Covid-linked health restrictions imposed by the French government. It has been accused of spreading fake news and conspiracies but claims it is giving “the most objective information possible on the [health] crisis”.
