The secretary general of the UN sees in it the "only tool allowing a return to a feeling of normality". A quarter of French people would refuse to be vaccinated if such a serum were to be developed, according to a study published this week by the scientific journal The Lancet.
In an online survey conducted in late March, shortly after the containment measures were implemented, 26% of those surveyed said "if a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine becomes available, they will not use it".
Sanofi: Véran guarantees that the French will "benefit from the vaccine" if it exists
French scientists, members of the Coconel project funded by the National Research Agency, also point out that the most reluctant to be vaccinated are among the most vulnerable to the virus: those with the "lowest incomes" (37 %), "Who are more often exposed to infectious diseases", but also women aged between 18 and 35 years (36%) and people aged over 75 years (22%).
Learning the "lessons" of 2009
These results "are not entirely surprising," say the scientists. "Researchers have often established a connection between political beliefs and attitude towards the vaccine," they point out. This highlights a crucial issue in terms of public intervention: how to make the public understand that the recommendations reflect scientific knowledge and not political interests? "
Scientists therefore deem it necessary to draw "lessons" from the H1N1 epidemic in 2009 in France. Only 8% of the population was then vaccinated.
"One of the main errors of the authorities has been to refuse to communicate early on the measures taken to ensure the safety of the vaccines, lest it provoke irrational reactions," they recount.
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PODCAST. From H1N1 to coronavirus, the rehabilitation of the former Minister of Health, Roselyne Bachelot
This approach would leave critics masters of the "agenda", condemning the authorities to adopt a "defensive" position. And potentially suspicious.
