Sociologists Nathalie Bajos (Inserm-Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, EHESS) and Alexis Spire (EHESS) have just made public the section on the vaccine intentions of the large EpiCoV survey (Epidemiology and living conditions linked to Covid-19) conducted by Inserm since spring 2020. Its results, coming from a cohort interviewed in November 2020, highlight the demographic and social determinants that fuel vaccine reluctance in general , and more particularly that with regard to the vaccine against Covid-19.
Several studies on vaccine reluctance have recently been carried out. What is the originality of your survey?
Nathalie Bajos: The specificity of our analysis is, on the one hand, that we try to distinguish between vaccine hesitancy and resolute refusal to practice vaccination; on the other hand, we are trying to understand how reluctance to vaccine against Covid-19 is specific compared to vaccine opposition in general, which allows us to provide completely innovative results. Finally, we go very far in the social characterization of people: we work on relations of gender, class, but also of ethnic origin in order to understand why this vaccine opposition is much more marked in certain social groups than in others. . All on a particularly large sample of over 85,000 people.
What makes the reluctance towards the anti-Covid vaccine so special?
NB: There is obviously a strong link between the position vis-à-vis vaccination in general and the expressed intention to be vaccinated against Covid. But then, we observe variations which depend on the categories and this forces us to make very detailed observations. For example, women are generally more opposed to the vaccine than men, but it is even more pronounced for the anti-Covid vaccine. Conversely, people with an immigrant background are more reluctant to use the vaccine in general than non-immigrants, but this difference is reduced when it comes to Covid.
Why is this hostility more marked among women?
N.B .: All sociological studies show that women are more reserved vis-à-vis technological innovation, this is true in general but also on health issues. It is something that refers to very gendered socialization processes. However, this vaccine, with the use for the first time of messenger RNA, seems particularly innovative. Then, socially, women are responsible for the health of the family, especially that of children and the elderly: this vaccine, carried by the government and the health authorities, appears more than others as an interference, a questioning. of their social role. We must not forget either the scandal of the third and fourth generation pills, which was the subject, a few years ago, of an unprecedented debate, which constitutes, for women, a breeding ground for reluctance in the face of the anti-Covid vaccination.
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