{"id":3222,"date":"2021-01-14T10:18:02","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T09:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/missionspubliques.org\/launch-of-citizens-consultation-on-french-covid-19-vaccine-campaign\/"},"modified":"2021-09-09T10:28:14","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T08:28:14","slug":"launch-of-citizens-consultation-on-french-covid-19-vaccine-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/missionspubliques.org\/launch-of-citizens-consultation-on-french-covid-19-vaccine-campaign\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Launch of citizens\u2019 consultation on French COVID-19 vaccine campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As France boosts pace of its nation-wide vaccine campaign, French government has decided to refer the matter to the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) to monitor the Covid-19 vaccination strategy, at a time when 58% of French people do not wish to be vaccinated. But this skepticism goes way back. Already in 2016, Health Minister Marisol Touraine, worried about insufficient vaccination coverage and the resurgence of certain diseases in France, launched a public consultation through \u201cSant\u00e9 Publique France\u201d to analyse the mechanisms and causes of this mistrust. Missions Publiques moderated the two citizen juries (one composed of the public, the other composed of non-immunization health professionals).<\/span><\/div>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator css=\u00a0\u00bb.vc_custom_1598860404478{margin-top: 25px !important;margin-bottom: 15px !important;}\u00a0\u00bb][vc_column_text]Why are the French so skeptical about vaccines? <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If the current question is how to accompany the Covid-19 vaccine campaign, it is useful to understand what were (and still are in part) the mechanisms that explain the skepticism of the French towards vaccines in general.<\/span><\/p>\n

This citizen consultation was based on the conviction that \u00ab\u00a0the expression of public expectations, representations or fears must be sought because it can confer relevance and legitimacy on public decisions, in the same way as technical, political or institutional considerations\u00a0\u00bb. The special feature of the approach was the setting up of two citizen juries: from the general population, the other selected among health professionals who are not specialists in vaccination. This system was supplemented by a participatory space on the Internet.<\/span><\/p>\n

About 40% of French people had already expressed doubts about the safety of vaccines – this proportion varies from vaccine to vaccine. But why is France among the world\u2019s most vaccine-skeptic countries? <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Several factors explained the rise in doubts among French folks. Firstly, sociological factors. Now that the major infectious diseases have been eradicated, citizens argue they may not need to get vaccinated against risks that have become non-existent<\/strong>; the adjuvants present in vaccines are a cause for concern (at the time, there was a supposed link between vaccination against hepatitis B and multiple sclerosis); the juxtaposition in the vaccination calendar of compulsory and recommended vaccines also causes some confusion. Added to this is the role of general practitioners, who often find it difficult to respond to their patients’ concerns<\/strong>, and the fact that, since the 2002 Kouchner Law, French society has recognised the right of citizens to take responsibility for their own medical decisions<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last but not least, the unfavourable context: the health scandals (contaminated blood, the French Mediator affair, poor management of the hepatitis B-multiple sclerosis vaccine controversy) and the positions of hostile associations widely disseminated on social media. Faced with these challenges, the inadequacy of responses or even the lack of awareness and the weak commitment of public authorities has in recent years left the field open to anti-vaccine mis-or disinformation.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Whether they were citizens, medical professionals, all agreed that vaccine confidence requires radical transparency <\/strong>discussed at expert level and at the level of access to data, i.e. the dissemination of scientific information on vaccines (benefits, risks, etc.), with progress to be made on the reporting of adverse events and reactions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since then, it has been possible on the Sant\u00e9 Publique France website to obtain information to better understand vaccines in the same way as tobacco or nutrition. Education (health education programs for all, for example) and ambitious communication were two ways of re-inscribing vaccines as an effective solution for preserving public health.<\/span><\/p>\n

Six years have passed since this last health consultation*, and still, such concerns are still widely shared among French citizens. As COVID-19 continues to spread across the country, President Macron\u2019s government choses to consult the public. \u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=\u00a0\u00bb.vc_custom_1610554719205{padding-top: 25px !important;}\u00a0\u00bb]<\/p>\n

Faced with these challenges, the inadequacy of responses or even the lack of awareness and the weak commitment of public authorities has in recent years left the field open to anti-vaccine mis-or disinformation.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=\u00a0\u00bbcontainer vls_mauto specialcontainer\u00a0\u00bb css=\u00a0\u00bb.vc_custom_1606834740721{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-top: 80px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}\u00a0\u00bb][vc_column][vc_column_text]A randomly-selected citizens\u2019 jury to monitor the COVID-19 vaccines <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

President Macron has officially announced a Citizens\u2019 Jury made of 35 randomly-selected French citizens who will support and advise the government\u2019s roll-out strategy up until next fall. \u00ab\u00a0Vaccinations must be carried out in a clear and transparent manner by sharing all information at every stage. Our strategy is based on several vaccines. (\u2026)\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

Missions Publiques together with Eurogroup Consulting, will support the CESE in the overall structuring of the consultation and the organisation of the sessions and inter-sessions with the citizens’ jury. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The approach is based on three pillars:<\/span><\/p>\n