Europe is in a hurry to develop a vaccine, but hundreds of thousands may not trust it or get vaccinated

This is because people have been really scared by myths about the side effects of vaccines for a long time and many times. Furthermore, citizens are increasingly distrustful of politicians, experts and pharmacists.

As a result, many people in Europe are already rejecting vaccines. Last year, a survey showed that it is on the Old Continent that such skeptics are most prevalent in the world.

In addition, the Global Vaccine Confidence project, which monitors global public confidence in vaccination programs, said that in March and April this year, as many as a fifth of respondents in Switzerland said they would abandon the coronavirus vaccine.

In France, 18% would not be vaccinated against COVID-19. citizens, 16% in Austria and 9% in Germany.

N. Djokovičius vows not to get vaccinated

Clearly, such figures may not hinder efforts to achieve so-called (collective) immunity, which requires 60-70%. public resistance to infection.

In March and April of this year, up to a fifth of respondents in Switzerland said they would abandon the coronavirus vaccine.

However, European governments are already aware of the call antivax The activity could disrupt more ambitious national vaccination programs. This was already the case in Italy.

Decision makers are now in the so-called “Catch-22” situation: the so-called vicious circle, a situation in which any choice leads to a new problem.

On the one hand, a vaccine is really necessary when the risk of infection is still high. But if the vaccine comes too soon, citizens may not believe that the vaccine is safe; They will think that scientists may have rushed and made a mistake.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn rejected the idea of ​​making coronavirus vaccination mandatory in the country. According to the minister, most people will definitely want to be vaccinated as soon as the vaccine is available.

But among those people is not the best tennis player in the world Novak Djokovic. He criticizes vaccines and now ensures that he will have to make an important decision whether traveling to tournaments will only be allowed after vaccination.

Maximum security

Heidi Larson, director of the Vaccine Confidence project, is convinced that time is of the essence in preparing people to get vaccinated.

“If people still feel threatened, for example in the second wave, they will see the vaccine more favorably,” said the expert. “But if the danger wears off, people may be reluctant to take risks and choose a new vaccine that they don’t know as much as they would like to know.”

In the UK, 7% People surveyed in mid-March said they would drop the coronavirus vaccine.

However, when the number of infected deaths increased significantly after two weeks, the figure fell to 5 percent. Now that fewer people are dying again, the number of those who promise not to get vaccinated has risen to 9 percent.

H.Larson: “If people still feel threatened, for example, in the second wave, they will see the vaccine more favorably. But if the danger wears off, people may be reluctant to take risks and choose a new vaccine that they don’t know as much as they would like to know. “

Marco Cavaleri, an expert at the European Medicines Agency, says he understands the serious dilemma decision makers face, both to accelerate vaccine development and to ensure that it is safe.

“We need to make sure that this combination does not compromise the specificity that is needed when it comes to vaccine safety,” said Cavaleri.

Experts at this agency want to work with vaccine researchers to discover how to gather evidence that a vaccine is effective and safe in the shortest time possible.

Simple answers to difficult questions.

It is true that even maximum diligence does not seem to help persuade, for example, the French antivax Marie Werbregue, President of Info Vaccins France. She will not be vaccinated and will advise others to do the same.

“I know that such a vaccine would not work, that it would be dangerous and would not be tested at all,” the activist said, adding that animal testing had been omitted in some of the vaccines, with immediate human testing.

I like very much antivax, Werbregue generally does not believe there is a pandemic in the world: “It is a type of influenza, like other viruses. The numbers are being manipulated to scare people, and the targets are political and financial. “

Conspiracy theories create a sense of control and psychological specificity, and are simple answers to complex questions.

Theories that the virus was created and released by international corporations, the World Health Organization (WHO), or Gates are truly abundant. The goal is said to be to maximize profits for vaccine companies.

Gates, who devotes most of his wealth to philanthropy, is particularly discouraged: the fact that the fund he founded is heavily funded by WHO shows that the conspiracy is rich.

“When all of this is fundamental, there is confusion. When there is more anxiety and more free time, people want to attack someone, “says Melinda, Gates’ wife.

Sander van der Linden, a psychologist at the University of Cambridge, argues that people cling to conspiracy theories in uncertain times because such ideas “create a sense of control and psychological specificity, and are simple answers to complex questions.”

However, David Salisbury, a global health programs expert at the Chatham House research center, is not sure that conspiracies alone will deter people from getting vaccinated; many realize that the new coronavirus is dangerous.

“If they find out that the virus kills and puts them in a bed of serious disease, and tests show that the vaccine is safe, they will be vaccinated,” said Salisbury.

But again, experts in conspiracy theories are skeptical. Stephan Lewandowsky, a psychologist at the University of Bristol, emphasizes the obvious link between proponents of such theories and antivax.

“I think many Europeans will rejoice when the vaccine comes out and stand in line to get life back to normal.” But as long as there is no vaccine, we cannot be sure of that, “says the scientist.

Do you trust or translate?

H. Larson, head of the Vaccine Trust Project, admits that such alternative thinkers have always been and always will be.

But she draws attention to those people who do not believe in conspiracy theories but fear safety and believe that vaccination decisions are simply being dropped from above: no one is listening to the public.

“These people, especially parents, feel like they are being condemned or ignored, even though they just want to ask a few simple questions,” explains Larson. – This is not a problem of disinformation, but of trust. The lie can be erased, but the mistrust caused by the lie remains. “

Italy is one of the countries where confidence in the health system is low. As of 2017, there are as many as 10 mandatory vaccines there, but the issue has already become political during the elections, and now, as the state is gradually guided by pandemic attacks, the debate resumes.

This is not a problem of disinformation, but of trust. The lie can be erased, but the mistrust caused by the lie remains.

The ruling coalition in Italy is made up of the Five-Star Vaccine Movement and the center-left Democratic Party, which only supports compulsory vaccination.

The country’s health minister, Roberto Speranza, seems determined to announce that the development of a coronavirus vaccine will force vaccination of the elderly and anyone suffering from various pathologies.

Pierpaol Sileri, Deputy Spanza, representative of the Five Star Movement, agrees. But there are politicians who believe that no vaccine is needed.

For example, Dabide Barillari, a politician from the Lazio region who was expelled from the Five Star Movement in April for publishing inaccurate information about the coronavirus, said: “There is no guarantee that the vaccine is safe and reliable. Mandatory vaccination is the wrong decision. Such an obligation would be authoritative. “

“Since the vaccine will not be available for some time, it would be good to start consulting people on the next steps. It is possible to build trust or complete the list of historical events during which people thought they were not being paid attention.” says H. Larson.