Europe tried to boost vaccination against covid-19 with incentives. Now some leaders are taking action

London (CNN) – As the pace of COVID-19 vaccines in Europe shows signs of slowing down, leaders are rushing to find answers to a key dilemma of the next phase of vaccination: how to convince reluctant citizens to get vaccinated.

From payments in cash until phone data, free tours of soccer stadiums until free grilled meat, officials have offered a variety of “carrots” to entice people to get vaccinated.

Now, as the delta variant sweeps across the continent, threatening to spark another round of lockdown orders in the height of summer, some leaders are pulling out the stick.

Vaccination passport in Europe

In the early hours of Monday, the French Parliament passed a law requiring a “health pass” showing proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test to enter restaurants, bars and travel on long-distance trains and planes, from August.

“We will extend the health pass as much as possible to pressure as many of you as possible to get vaccinated,” French President Emmanel Macron explained in mid-July when he announced the legislation. He also said vaccination would be required for healthcare workers starting Sept. 15 and hinted at the possibility of making the vaccine mandatory for everyone if the epidemic worsens.

Greece, which faces a surge in infections that threatens the revival of its crucial tourism industry, went one step further than France in mid-July, excluding the unvaccinated from covered restaurants, bars, cafes and cinemas. He also ordered mandatory vaccinations for healthcare workers.

Italy, which ordered vaccines for health workers and pharmacies in April, announced Thursday that it would also impose similar restrictions in closed places for residents without proof of immunity. “The message that as a government we want to give is: get vaccinated! Get vaccinated! Get vaccinated!” Said the country’s Health Minister.

Excluding the unvaccinated from areas of social life is the latest of many restrictions that were once unthinkable in Western democracies but are now becoming commonplace. The measures have sparked protests and renewed debate over whether the injection should be left to individual choice or required by the state for the collective good.

“It will be very interesting to really see how they are tolerated [los certificados covid-19] because in March 2020, nobody thought that a blockade could be put in the western country and yet that is exactly what happened, “said Dr. Oliver. Watson, a researcher who models covid-19 transmission in the Imperial College London, to CNN.

It’s also unclear whether coercing people to get vaccinated will work.

“Previous studies looking at the impact of mandates on vaccine adoption are unlikely to capture the myriad of reasons why vaccine vacillation related to COVID-19 will be very different from childhood vaccination mandates for the measles, “Watson said.

Will the mandates work?

Not everyone supports mandatory vaccine measures. More than 160,000 people took part in protests against France’s COVID-19 measures on Saturday, calling on the government to remove the new rules.

Parisian Axel Miaka Mia was enraged when he found out about the plan. “I am completely against it,” he told CNN on Tuesday. That is not to say that Miaka Mia has taken the pandemic lightly. He has spent the last year concerned about the health of his parents and the elderly in his family.

By wielding the club, the French government will make “many feel that they have to be vaccinated to have a somewhat normal life,” he said. But Miaka Mia won’t get the vaccine anytime soon. Your workplace does not require you to be vaccinated and you can adapt your life to the current rules, as it does not apply to small stores.

Experts say it could be difficult to determine the effect that covid certificates have on vaccine acceptance, as these measures “are often accompanied by more media coverage and more discussion around vaccination, which it may be the cause of changes in absorption levels, “Watson noted.

Regardless, Macron’s announcement sparked a rush to get vaccinated, at least in the short term. Doctolib, a French portal for booking vaccines, recorded a record 3.7 million people making appointments the following week, according to your website.

France’s Minister of State for European Affairs, Clement Beaune, said the increase in reserves showed “that among people who were not vaccinated, a very small minority is against vaccination.” It is a confirmed statement by a recent survey, which shows that the French are getting excited about the idea of ​​covid-19 vaccines after ranking as one of the most skeptical European countries at the start of the pandemic.

Why do they hesitate to get vaccinated?

The problem of wavering in some European countries dates back years, and “I don’t think government engagement efforts have addressed that,” said Dr. Deepti Gurdasani, a public health expert and epidemiologist at Queen Mary University of California. London.

“I think the most successful vaccine programs require an understanding of vaccine vacillation that is distinct from anti-vaccine sentiment,” he told CNN. “Dealing with vaccine concerns requires community involvement to really understand the reasons and address them rather than dismissing people as ignorant or selfish.”

She has strong doubts about the efficacy of covid-19 certification schemes when faced with the delta variant. “With the above variants, we could have achieved herd immunity with high levels of vaccination, but we are currently dealing with the delta variant with a reproduction rate (the average number of people that one person with the virus will infect) of six,” saying.

As a result, Gurdasani estimates that 85% of the population will need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. “Even with high levels of vaccination, we are not going to stop outbreaks” without other mitigations in place, he said, such as investing in better filtration of indoor environments and a culture change that prioritizes socializing outdoors over outdoor environments. interiors.

Vaccinating the young

About 55% of all adults in the European Union were fully vaccinated as of Thursday, Union officials announced, meaning the bloc will not reach its original target of 70% by the end of July. Less than half the population has been fully vaccinated in Germany and France.

In France, people between the ages of 10 and 29 accounted for more than half of new cases during the week of July 7. Germany has also seen an increase in positive cases among the younger groups, as well as a delay in the acceptance of vaccination in recent weeks.

Germany’s politicians have vowed not to impose mask mandates, and it has not implemented the kind of vaccination incentives promoted by neighboring countries, although in some German states fully vaccinated people can enter bars or restaurants without a recent negative test, he said. Berit Lange, an epidemiologist at Germany’s Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, told CNN.

But the country is beginning to see an increase in positive cases among the younger age groups, as well as a delay in uptake of vaccination in recent weeks. “Epidemiologists are saying we need to get vaccinated against this trend, otherwise [podríamos] have a fourth wave similar to the one the UK is having, “he said in reference to the skyrocketing rise in cases in the UK, which recorded 46-558 positive tests for the virus on Tuesday. Germany had fewer than 2,000 cases the same day.

While vaccination rates for the younger age groups are lower overall, as they only became eligible after the older age groups, there is growing concern that some young people have become complacent with the injection.

In England, home to one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, Prime Minister Boris Johnson loosened nearly all covid-19 restrictions last Monday, while at the same time announcing that full vaccination would be a condition of entry into nightclubs at the end of September, “when everyone over 18 will have had a chance to take a double hit.”

“Although we can see the enthusiasm of millions of young people to receive their blows, we need even more young adults to receive protection that is of immense benefit to your family and friends, and to yourself. That is why I remind everyone that some of the Life’s greatest pleasures and opportunities are likely to be increasingly dependent on vaccination, “Johnson warned.

The UK government is now considering making the full covid-19 vaccination test mandatory for all events with more than 20,000 attendees, a government source told CNN on Sunday.

The idea is still in its “early stages” but the English Premier League is expected to be “the first to adopt it” if plans are confirmed, the source said.

Experts perceived a note of hypocrisy from leaders targeting young people with bans on places like nightclubs. “I think the problem is that many of these countries have completely minimized the impacts of COVID-19 on young people,” Gurdasani said. He noted that in the UK, three-quarters of all people living with prolonged covid symptoms were from younger age groups.

Meanwhile, the possibility of Miaka Mia receiving the vaccine is almost nil. Instead, he plans to join the upcoming protests against France’s sanitary measures. “I think they [el gobierno] they really stole our freedom, “he said.

– CNN’s Tara John reported and wrote from London. CNN’s Simon Bouvier and Xiaofei Xu reported from Paris. CNN’s Nicola Ruotolo contributed to this report.