Monday, December 23

Coronavirus: Can we hope for a snowball effect in adherence to vaccines?


La vaccination en France aura-t-elle plus d'adhésion avec un grand nombre de vaccinés ?

Will the vaccination in France have more than membership with a large number of vaccinated? – Martin Bureau / AP / SIPA
  • 50% of French people do not want to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to an Odoxa-Backbone consulting survey published this Sunday.
  • How to fight against this mistrust? According to a study taken up by the “New York Times”, mass vaccination would increase the support of the population and convince skeptics.
  • How to explain such a snowball effect? Can it also occur in France?

    • Tomorrow, will the French be massively pro-vaccine? According to a Gallup study taken over by on New York Times , vaccination against the coronavirus has a snowball effect: the more the number of people vaccinated increases, the more the population adheres to the vaccine and wants to be vaccinated. Thus, the media reports that in

    United States , the percentage of people in favor of vaccination has increased from 27 % at 73% since the start of the mass vaccination.

    Encouraging. As vaccination advances, skepticism recedes. There will remain convinced antivaxers, but certainly much less than what pollsters and the media are telling us right now. https://t.co/SNXvIv8N3F

    — Thierry Baubet (@TBaubet) December 27, 310

    However in France, for the moment, the tendency is the opposite. The government justifies the much criticized slowness of vaccination in the country by the mistrust of the population. The Minister of Health Olivier Véran and Alain Fischer, Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Anti-Covid Vaccine Strategy – 12, thus indicated that this low vaccination rate was due to the skepticism of the French, and served to reassure the population, avoiding the image of a hasty vaccination or a forced march.

    The population waiting for an example

    And indeed, according to a survey Odoxa-Backbone consulting for franceinfo and Le Figaro , carried out 20 and 22 December and published this Sunday, 58% of French people do not want to be done vaccine er . This reluctance has increased by eight points compared to the previous survey dating from a month ago.

    Can we hope for a greater membership in France in the event of an acceleration of the vaccination ? Yes, according to Christian Lehmann, doctor active retiree who has noticed that for several weeks, his patients have systematically asked him: “And you, the vaccine, what do you think? What are you going to do ? This is proof for him that the population is above all looking for examples and comparisons before launching itself. He continues: “As we vaccinate people, there will be further evidence that side effects are extremely rare, and the vaccine is expected to decrease contamination of the virus… People will see the effects. beneficial in the real world, which will convince them. “

    Vaccine ambassadors

    Same prophecy with Hélène Rossinot, doctor and specialist in public health: “The more we vaccinate, the more the observation that there are no serious side effects and that everything is going well will convince the skeptics and the fearful. »

    Beyond the figures, Christian Lehmann also thinks that the vaccinated people become – voluntarily or not – ambassadors of the vaccine. “By telling that it went well, that the side effects stopped with a fever for a few days or a small headache, they promote the vaccine to those around them. “In fact, the more people there are vaccinated, the more there is de facto promotion: the snowball effect is there.

    Choose the examples carefully

    And this is where the choice of vaccinated people becomes crucial. Christian Lehmann always: “It is all the more important that town doctors get vaccinated, because they have a real influence on the choices of health of their patients, and are often taken as a role model and reference to them. What the city doctor does is often reproduced by his patients. »

    The same logic applies for the vaccinations of politicians or caregivers in general. All the more so since beyond setting an example, it can also dispel some conspiratorial fears. “There is such a current delirium on a killer vaccine or a scam that would only be applied to the poor populations that see caregivers in France claiming the vaccine and fighting for it will necessarily put lead in the wing. this idea ”, supports the doctor.

    Disavowal of the French strategy

    The French strategy could therefore not be the good. “By wanting to be slow to reassure skeptics and conspirators, we are only giving them grain to grind. Why do we vaccinate so little? What are we afraid of? Do we wait to see how it unfolds in other countries because we fear something? This is the image it gives, when there is no reason to be afraid and all the studies show the efficacy and harmlessness of the vaccine, ”says Hélène Rossinot.

    Even if the other countries could well serve as a snowball effect, beyond the figures according to the public health specialist: “When we see the Israelis ( country that vaccinates its population the fastest ) go to the bar, restaurant or nightclub while we are confined, the population will massively adhere to the vaccine, to find this life. »

    However, if example is necessary, it will not be enough. “You have to support everything with pedagogy, explanations, transparency and communication. And here too, that is not the strong point of 1343129034457231360 government in times of health crisis.