Being contaminated by the Covid or doing your booster dose: some French people hesitate!

“Like a large majority of the population, I did my two doses“, says Léa, work psychologist and ergonomist. “Regarding the 3rd dose, I was just talking about it with friends, and we must have been 3 or 4 out of 8 to ‘prefer’ to be contaminated by Covid-19 than to have to be vaccinated again“. Among the relatives of the 25-year-old young woman, recent infections did not show “severe” symptoms, unlike the experience of the third injection, which was difficult for some.

Disabled sanitary passes

However, this new booster dose seems essential to keep your health pass up to date. As of January 15, 2022, the health pass is conditional on the booster dose for all people aged 18 and over. In total, between 500,000 and 700,000 people could see their health pass deactivated, estimates the Minister of Health Olivier Véran at the microphone of Franceinfo.

In some double vaccinated, it is difficult to give up the “comfort” of life and the advantages of the health pass. However, the third dose is not at the rendezvous. “I got vaccinated in September“, testifies Julie *, 24 years old. Despite her pass still valid until February 15, the young 24-year-old student remains concerned about the deadline. “Without it, I cannot have access to my workplace. Eventually, I will be forced to take my 3rd dose, but it will be without desire“, she admits. “Then the 4th dose will arrive quickly”, jokes the young woman.

Contract the covid… or refuse the recall

For his part, Gabriel will skip the third dose. After a skiing holiday, he contracted the first symptoms. Loss of taste, fatigue, headaches… “the total” sums up this 35-year-old communicator. “It was not done on purpose”, he defends himself, “but that’s good. For the third dose, I am eligible for Moderna, and he doesn’t tell me anything worthwhile”. A “pure chance” relatively badly experienced at the time. “I was in bed for almost a week, despite the two doses, I had no energy.” However, he does not budge. “I prefer to be contaminated by Covid than to take this third dose”. Today the young man relishes… while waiting to lose his pass. “I still have time to change my mind, but for the moment, I remain on a categorical no, even if it means re-contracting it later”, he says, pensive.

Do not trivialize Omicron

But be careful not to trivialize Covid-19 contamination, as Mahmoud Zureik, professor of public health and epidemiology at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and director of Epi-Phare, reminds us. with our colleagues from FranceInfo, as Omicron remains a recent variant. “We are not immune to a good surprise, but it is not yet a trivialized virus like the common cold. We must not jump to conclusions too quickly. Omicron, it has not even been two months since “It’s there. We don’t yet know its medium-term consequences. This calls for the greatest vigilance and caution before letting it circulate freely. We can’t take bets on things like that”.

In Léa’s case, refusing the third dose would be the possibility of escaping a hypothetical 4th or 5th dose which would be “exhausting”. Corn, “I think I’m going to end up having to give myself this famous 3rd dose, which enchants me medium, but like many people, I have no choice” she concludes. Just like more than 30 million French people since the start of the recall campaign, according to figures from Public Health France. The best way to protect yourself from the disease of which there are no less than 300,000 new cases per day since the beginning of January.

*Alias