Lionel Gougelot, in Roubaix 7:35 p.m., September 7, 2021
In the city of Roubaix, where the reservations expressed vis-à-vis the vaccine are numerous, mediators are trying to convince those undecided about the usefulness of being vaccinated.
But the task turns out to be difficult, as the mistrust is great in this popular city in the North, near Lille.
REPORTING
They are less and less numerous but still represent a significant proportion of French people of age to receive an injection.
While nearly 45 million people have completed their vaccination schedule, many remain reluctant to convince vaccination against Covid-19.
In Roubaix, where vaccination rates are lower than the national average, it is the work of a small group of vaccination ambassadors, responsible for "taking the temperature" and encouraging people to be vaccinated against Covid -19, without appointment.
"I'm telling you, we are antivax here"
From the first few meters of their way, they encounter frontal opposition to the vaccine.
"I'm telling you, we're antivax here," a young man warns them.
"We do not know this vaccine, we do not know what it will give us", justifies one of his friends.
"What I suggest to you is to go to the vaccination center, to see a doctor and he will explain to you exactly what it is," suggests one of these ambassadors, without much success.
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Difficult, in fact, to convince this group of young people, obviously quite representative of the reluctance expressed in the neighborhood, according to Fayçal, one of the mediators.
"'You can't know what's in the vaccine', 'the real death toll'… That's what we hear all day long. At least there's an exchange, it's interesting, with information that is released. And then, it will work in the head, the message will pass, "he wants to believe.
Reminders scheduled for the second dose
A little further on, the mediators convinced Mustapha, a regular in the neighborhood, who was accompanied to the vaccination center. "I could do it a long time ago, but there were friends who told me not to do it", concedes this Roubaisien. "I was confused between the two. The gentleman convinced me and I came."
A work of conviction on the ground which, according to Jean-Philippe d'Ancône, the deputy of the municipality in charge of health, will necessarily have to be spread over time. "We are going to do all the districts of the city successively over four weeks and come back here in four weeks to possibly call back people who have been vaccinated today", announces the person in charge. For the second dose, adds the elected, "we will call them back if necessary" because, for him, no question of losing these new convinced on the way.