French Covid statistics site creator awarded National Order of Merit

The young French IT engineer from Savoie, who created Covid statistics site Covidtracker.fr and the vaccination appointment finding tool Vite Ma Dose, has been conferred the rank of Knight (Chevalier) of France's National Order of Merit.

Guillaume Rozier, 25, said it was a pleasure and honour to receive the distinction.

“I think it represents weeks of work, many hours sacrificed, but sacrificed with pleasure with the goal of helping people in France to understand the epidemic,” Mr Rozier told BFMTV this morning (May 22).

He dedicated the award to all the volunteers who worked with him to create the online tools.

France’s Health Minister Olivier Véran tweeted simply that Mr Rozier’s award was “well deserved”.

Covidtracker.fr is a website that offers easy-to-understand graphs and charts on the Covid-19 epidemic in France. It is used almost daily by journalists, politicians and other professionals to keep on top of Covid data in France.

The website was set up in March 2020, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vite Ma Dose was launched by Mr Rozier and his team at the beginning of April to help people rapidly find vaccination appointments. It allows users to input the department they live in and the engine immediately offers all the Covid-19 vaccination appointments available nearby.

All the tools are free to use and Mr Rozier told The Connexion in an interview published in our January 2021 print paper that he had no intention of monetising them and created them to help people combat the pandemic.

The National Order of Merit (ordre national du Mérite) is the second national order after the Legion of Honour in France.

It was founded in 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. It is intended as a form of encouragement for people in France to give their best., the Grande chancellerie de la Légion d'honneur, which manages the honours, states on its website.

It is usually handed out after at least 10 years of service. Mr Rozier received his honour earlier due to “exceptional services”, the Grande chancellerie de la Légion d'honneur stated.

Read more:

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French Health Minister thanks Covid statistic site creator