In Brittany, approximately 480,000 people aged 12 and over have still not received a single dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Among them, Hélène and Anthony. They both work as caregivers at Scorff hospital in Lorient but they have been on sick leave since September, exhausted by the successive waves of Covid-19 and the lack of resources in hospitals.
From the first exchanges, Anthony sets things straight: “We’re not anti-vaccines, we just want more perspective. We are even pro-vaccines. To work we had to be vaccinated before and it never posed a problem for us. “ Beside him, Hélène, his companion, nods her head while Anthony details their arguments: “We what we want is a vaccine with a final marketing authorization and currently, the vaccines only have conditional marketing authorizations. Once we have this hindsight, we will surely move on. towards vaccination. ”
Health pass and vaccination pass
The couple also questioned the interest of the health pass: “I am not against it, but we know that some vaccinated people can still catch and transmit the virus. They have the right to go out without worries, whereas we, if we want to go out and our test is negative, there is at no risk. “ Asked about a possible transformation of the health pass into a vaccination pass, Hélène and Anthony wonder: _“What’s the point since people who have been vaccinated can still catch the virus and pass it on?”_.
“It’s a difficult situation but it’s our choice” – Anthony
The couple haven’t been to a restaurant since this summer: “Either we get vaccinated and we are free, or we do not get vaccinated and we can do nothing but me freedom under constraint is not to which I adhere”, says Hélène. This is also the reason why they refuse to constantly be tested in order to go out. “For big family events, on the other hand, we do it, but as we never go out, we do not put anyone in danger,” he quipped.
A situation which also leads to tensions with their family and friends: _“This year Christmas will not be as usual because some of our relatives do not understand our choice. There will not be the convivial side as we have been able to have in previous years”_, laments Hélène.