On October 3, the new anti-Covid vaccine reminder campaign opened, against a backdrop of the resumption of the epidemic.
In this context, 17 million people in France are eligible for a booster dose which, and for the first time, it will be possible to receive a vaccine targeting the Omicron variant, which is ubiquitous today.
For readers of "20 Minutes" eligible for the recall, opinions are divided, between early skeptics, hesitant and those convinced of the benefits of the vaccine.
17 million.
This is the number of people eligible for a dose of anti-Covid vaccine, as part of the recall campaign opened in France since Monday.
People aged 60 and over, those who are immunocompromised and their entourage, nursing home residents, pregnant women, as well as high-risk children and adolescents are thus invited to be vaccinated.
Target populations which for the first time will be able to receive bivalent vaccines, targeting the original strain of the virus but also sub-variants of Omicron, responsible for this start of the eighth epidemic wave.
But how is this reminder campaign received by those who are called upon to receive an additional dose of vaccine?
Have they heard of vaccines targeting Omicron?
Among the readers of
20 Minutes
who responded to our call for testimonials, opinions are divided, between the pure refractory, the hesitant and the convinced from the start.
“I am not vaccinated, and I never will be”
The anti-Covid vaccination, some have refused it outright since its launch, and have never changed their minds.
Like Philippe: “I am not vaccinated, and I will never be, he plants.
I have no confidence in the government and its administration to manage public health.
“A position that Didier * does not understand, who has “more confidence in the scientific consensus than in the conspiracy consensus”, and who “intends to do the reminder”.
But like Philippe, Jean never went through the Covid vaccination box and intends to continue like this.
“I am over 60 years old, I have never been vaccinated and neither have the people around me, and I have only worn the mask as little as possible.
However, I never caught the Covid-19.
»
Like Jean and Philippe, France has a fringe of irreducible refractory to vaccination, as shown by the third wave of the Slavaco survey on vaccination intentions, published at the end of 2021. According to the document, by breaking down the 10.5% of unvaccinated respondents, "a majority seems to have made up their minds on this subject: 7% are 'certain' not to be vaccinated, against 3.5% who 'probably will not'".
"It's no use, I still had the Covid"
Others, like Dominique, have already been vaccinated against Covid-19, but no longer want to receive a booster.
“It's useless, says this 68-year-old reader, who suffers from hypertension.
I had the Covid after being vaccinated, and I was very lucky because my body was able to fight to get me out of this bad situation.
So I'm not about to get vaccinated again.
I prefer to stay at home.
"And then, adds Ouiza, "at this rate, let's take a subscription!
Will we also try to vaccinate us against acne, diarrhea and headaches?
»
For Dr. Jérôme Marty, general practitioner and president of the French Union for Free Medicine (UFML), “this is a sign of a lack of education on the part of the health authorities.
Almost two years after the start of the anti-Covid vaccination, we still have not had a communication campaign that clearly explains how the vaccine works: doing the booster will not prevent you from contaminating yourself, but it will prevent you from developing a serious form of the disease, yet your reader has obviously not understood that it was the fact of having been vaccinated that protected him from a serious form of the disease.
In addition, the vaccine will not prevent you from contaminating your neighbour, but it will reduce your capacity for contamination by lowering your viral load.
As for the rhythm of reminders, it may not be a panacea,
we would prefer that a single dose confers a longer immunity, but it is the arsenal – effective – which we have today.
And we must keep in mind that if we stopped vaccination, we would return to confinement!
»
“I still have doubts”
Doris is still hesitating.
“Having over 60 and an autoimmune disease, I regularly receive messages telling me that I am eligible for the recall.
But for now, I prefer to wait: I always have doubts about the long-term side effects of vaccines, and the new ones, suitable for Omicron, I don't know about them, so I don't want to test them for the moment “, she explains, preferring to rely on distancing measures.
“There again, I see a lack of pedagogy there, analyzes Dr. Marty.
We are lucky to have new version vaccines, which target the variant responsible for this start of the eighth epidemic wave.
However, I haven't seen any spots on TV that explain the specificities of these bivalent serums!
It must be stressed that we are faced with a virus which makes variants regularly, several times a year.
The Omicron variant engendered more transmissible sublines that were more resistant to neutralizing antibodies.
However, the more the virus circulates, the more it is likely to give rise to other strains that can lead to new epidemic waves, like an endless loop.
The interest of carrying out this recall with appropriate vaccines is precisely to adjust our defenses to these variants.
»
"I prefer the effects of the vaccine to those of the Covid"
Frédéric, he does not need to hear it said twice.
“I am 67 years old, diabetes, an insulin pump and a pacemaker.
I'm on four doses, and so far I've been lucky enough to avoid the coronavirus, so why not continue?
I trust the vaccine, and I am delighted to receive it.
“A precaution welcomed by Dr. Marty, who recalls that diabetes and heart problems are obviously “comorbidities which increase the risk of serious forms of the virus”.
Elisabeth, 64, is also “in a hurry to do the second booster with the new vaccines.
Even if I had some unpleasant effects after the injections, having already had Omicron, I prefer the effects of the vaccine to those of the Covid.
»
“I know what it cost me not to have been vaccinated”
As for Eric, he didn't need to be asked either.
“As soon as the announcement was made, I immediately made an appointment with my nurse.
The vaccine a benefit for humanity: compare the Covid figures between the vaccinated countries and those which have not been, it is instructive.
»
And it is not Eddy who will say the opposite: “I was not vaccinated enough as a child and I had poliomyelitis.
I know what it cost me not to have been vaccinated.
Today, I have no hesitation.
I deeply trust science, so I vaccinate myself.
»
People eligible for the recall can "be vaccinated at a vaccination center, at their doctor's office, in a pharmacy, in a nursing office or even in a midwife's office", indicates the Ministry of Health.
*Name has been changed.
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