While the Head of State does not rule out one day having recourse to compulsory vaccination against Covid-19, two polls give an idea of what the French think of it.
- Since the start of the recall campaign, 16,678,837 people have received a third dose.
- In addition, since the start of the anti-Covid vaccination campaign in France, 52,386,149 people have received at least one injection (i.e. 77.7% of the total population) and 51,319,684 people now have a complete vaccination schedule ( i.e. 76.1% of the total population).
“It’s a bit like what we do every year with the flu”. In a pre-recorded interview broadcast on Wednesday December 15 by the TF1 and LCI television channels, President Emmanuel Macron did not rule out one day having recourse to compulsory vaccination against Covid-19, while for the moment giving priority to the third dose. The vaccination hypothesis “exists, of course! You know, we are almost there, when you have more than 90% of those who need to be vaccinated”, he told reporters.
Regarding children, the Head of State also said he was in favor of their vaccination: “I believe that between 5 and 11 years old, […] we gave all the transparency, the health authorities explained that it was good, that it would protect, we see that it is a virus that turns a lot in children and therefore I think it is desirable. After that, it’s the parents’ choice.”
7 out of 10 parents opposed to vaccinating their child(ren)
But what do the French think today of this anti-coronavirus vaccination campaign? According to a study “Opinion 2022” produced by Elabe for BFMTV and L’Express, in partnership with SFR, nearly 7 out of 10 parents are opposed to the vaccination of their child(ren), half of them fiercely. If we take all French people, 51% are in favor of immunizing the youngest.
According to this same survey, 29% of French people say they would be “embarrassed” and “would take more precautions” if they had to spend Christmas or the New Year with an unvaccinated relative, and 20% even say they would refuse the To do. On the other hand, 36% of respondents believe that this would not cause them any problem.
7 out of 10 French people support the implementation of a compulsory vaccine
According to another Ifop poll for the Journal du Dimanche, nearly seven out of ten French people (68%) support the implementation of a compulsory vaccine against Covid-19; 39% of them even say they are “completely” in favor of it. While public opinion as a whole remains predominantly in favor of compulsory vaccination, we observe, in detail, a generational gap between young people who are less willing (50% of 25-35 year olds are in favour) than their elders ( 83% of people aged 65 and over are in favor of supporting such a measure.
The question also divides the French according to their partisan proximity. Supporters of so-called “anti-system” or radical parties are more reluctant to apply such a measure: 56% of supporters of France Insoumise are in favor of it, as are 55% of those of the National Rally. Conversely, those close to the presidential majority support the measure up to 90%. “This strong support illustrates the fact that beyond the health issue, the vaccination obligation also has an eminently political issue a few months before the first round of the presidential election”, concludes Ifop.
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