Covid-19: who are the 5.4 million French people still unvaccinated?

Faced with the Omicron variant, the government has decided to implement the vaccination pass, further increasing the pressure on people who are still not vaccinated. According to figures from the Ministry of Health, they would be 5.4 million to be eligible for vaccination without having initiated this step.

The proportion of unvaccinated people is highest among 30-49 year olds, among which 10% are not vaccinated, according to figures collected on CovidTracker as of December 23, 2021. The percentage is also strong among those over 75 years old , as 8.5% still refuse to receive serum. Among 18-29 year olds, 6.4% are not vaccinated, while 6.8% of 50-64 year olds are reluctant.

If no typical profile emerges, the data from CovidTracker show a territorial disparity. Thus, some departments have a higher number of unvaccinated than others. This is for example the case of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône or even Seine-Saint-Denis, which account for nearly 30% of their population who have not initiated a vaccination scheme. On the contrary, there are very few unvaccinated people left in the Landes or even in Charente-Maritimes, where nearly 82% of the population is vaccinated.

However, the refusal to be vaccinated makes the daily life of these people very complicated. As a salesperson, Michel, 33, tells TF1 20H, in the video at the top of this article, how his professional life is impacted by this measure. “I don’t have access to restaurants or bars, so when I have a meeting with a client, I can’t do my job as a salesperson”, he explains.

In addition, he is obliged to pay a test each time he wants to do an indoor activity or he wants to go out with friends. An expensive possibility, that it will not be accessible to him sooner with the next implementation of the vaccination pass. Faced with this pressure, some then change their minds. “I don’t have much choice if I want to continue living”, highlights Camille, 24 years old.

“We’re coming out of two years of Covid. I don’t want to go back for a year without a restaurant, without being able to travel”, also underlines Boris, 32, who has resigned himself to being vaccinated. He and Camille are not the only ones to have finally taken the plunge: in one week, the number of first injections has jumped by 34%.

According to the Directorate General of Health, on December 20, 51,476,035 people had a complete vaccination schedule in France, or 76.3% of the population.