The latest coronavirus news updated every day including coronavirus cases, the latest news, features and interviews from New Scientist and essential information about the covid-19 pandemic
Almost one in three working-age adults surveyed in France have said they would refuse any COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new study.
While the findings were gathered back in June 2020 and it’s possible many people have changed their mind since the first wave, the study does highlight how vaccine hesitancy could become a tricky hurdle in the global effort against COVID-19. The research does, however, also show that clearly communicating the benefits of herd immunity can help to persuade those that feel uncertain about vaccines.
In the new study published in The Lancet Public Health researchers from Bordeaux University Hospital, France, and the University of Aberdeen, Scotland asked nearly 2,000 people living in France aged between 18 to 64 years old about their views on the prospect of a COVID-19 vaccine using an online questionnaire completed in June 2020.
Scientists first raised the alarm over new variants in December after the discovery of a Kent variant in September which was said to be 70 percent more transmissiwould ble by scientific modellers.
This modelling was instrumental in the justification of a third lockdown as well as the cancellation of the lockdown break over Christmas.
Since then others have been found, including South African and Brazilian. These have led to fears of greater transmissibility, lethality and possible resistance to vaccines.
A new border policy aims to prevent new variants being introduced, with hotels being prepared to quarantine travellers from highrisk countries. But Prof Brookes said while mutations may slightly modify the target for the immune system, they would not render vaccines ineffective.
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in a representative working-age population in France: a survey experiment based on vaccine characteristics thelancet.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thelancet.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
About one third adults in France could reject Covid-19 vaccine: Survey
The authors of the new study surveyed a representative sample of nearly 2,000 adults in France aged 18-64 years
Saturday February 6, 2021 5:32 PM, IANS
London: In France, where vaccine skepticism, in general, is high, nearly one in three working-age adults were outright opposed to being vaccinated against Covid-19 when they participated in a survey after the first wave of the pandemic in the country.
The research published in the journal The Lancet Public Health, showed that more than two-thirds of people could accept a vaccine depending on its characteristics, with their decision based largely on its effectiveness and country of origin.