In selfie mode, Emmanuel Macron decided to answer questions asked by the French about vaccination, the health pass and Covid-19 on Instagram and Tik Tok.
Epidemiologist William Dab welcomes the use of all communication channels but warns of the separation to be made between medical and political questions.
INTERVIEW
Live from Fort Brégançon in the Var, Emmanuel Macron offered Monday to answer questions from the French on Instagram and Tik Tok on vaccination and Covid-19.
In a short video, where he appears in a black t-shirt, the Head of State recalls that vaccination "is the only weapon" in the face of a fourth wave. "According to the Elysee, the President of the Republic will take several questions and will respond regularly this week, in pictures. "There is a great need for information and explanations in the country", comments epidemiologist William Dab, who however warns of the necessary separation between political and scientific questions.
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The latter, former Director General of Health, distinguishes between scientific and medical questions, falling under collective scientific expertise, and organizational issues, falling within the jurisdiction of the State. "I think the question is to know what procedure has the president surrounded himself to answer the questions that will be put to him on Instagram or Tik Tok? To formulate his answers, does he rely on several expert colleges? Does he have specialists around him to update him on the latest studies that come out every day? As I have no details on the procedure, I cannot judge it . "
"It is important to differentiate between questions which are political and scientific questions. I think it is important not to mix the two, otherwise trust could be shaken. This is a distinction that is really fundamental to make, "adds William Dab.
Privileged communication channels
Without presuming the effectiveness of such a communication operation, William Dab recalls the importance of using the communication channels available to reassure and inform about vaccination. "Each category of the population has its privileged channels for obtaining information and I think we must mobilize them all," he says. "When we look at the current epidemiological data, we see that there is a real explosion of contamination, especially among 20-29 year olds. And it is in this age group that social networks are very popular. . It is therefore quite logical to mobilize these tools ", adds the epidemiologist.
Emmanuel Macron's initiative comes after the third Saturday of mobilization against the health pass. They were more than 200,000 mobilized Saturday, according to the Ministry of the Interior. And the investment of social networks by the Head of State could be seen as a new attack against these refractories. "I think it's a bet made by the President of the Republic. If we have confidence in his word, then the effect can be positive. If, on the contrary, we are in a context of mistrust, the effect could be counterproductive ", William Dab analyzes. "We will see in the coming days how, how it reacts on social networks."