The Covid-19 crisis and health aspects, the development of a new variant, the ever more necessary vaccination in the face of the fifth wave, franceinfo tells you about it every day. But there is also, of course, a whole social, societal aspect, faced with the evolution of the epidemic.
We learned this week that there will therefore be a third mandatory dose to keep his health pass for all adults. Analysis of this new health and societal situation with the sociologist Jean Viard, research director at the CNRS.
franceinfo: Since this week, we have seen a boom in reservations for the third booster dose against Covid-19. How do you explain this reaction which still seems to show an acceptance of the French?
Jean Viard: We have, I believe, entered a world with the Covid. No one knows if, one day, our masks will be taken off. I am also waiting for the great couturiers to storm this new piece of clothing after the scarf, the muffler, etc. Basically, we entered this period, and without stopping, we hope that it will decrease, we feel that with the vaccines, even if we are sick, it is much less serious, etc. Basically, we have turned a page, we have entered a new cycle. I think that’s the right thing to say.
You know what’s going on right now: we see the vaccine, we see the new waves, but at the same time, according to the Elabe cabinet, there are 5 million French people who have moved. There are over a million couples who have exploded. So, basically for the sociologist, when we repeat there is going to be a fifth wave, I say to myself: how many more moves will there be? How many couples are there who are going to explode, in particular, in particular in the youth? How many employees will change jobs? Why ? Because deep down, it’s like we’re all sick.
Obviously, unfortunately, there are those who are really dead and sick, there are those who care for them, but deep down we all live, I would say, like someone who has cancer and he has remissions, and every Once we have a remission, we say to ourselves, what am I going to do with the life that I have left now, since I am not dead? And deep down, I think mentally that’s what’s happening. Suddenly, people say to themselves: what is the meaning of my life? What is the meaning of my life with that person, in that place? What is the meaning of: how I bring up my children because I don’t have a garden, etc. If you want, this is what is happening, this is what is transforming society very deeply.
At this moment, there is a word which is central, it is “the near one”. People are rebuilding themselves around the loved one, that is to say the relatives, the close family. And then, on the other side, “the near”. That is, what is around me. You see local races, you see teleworking, which allows you to work where you live. We are in the process of creating a society that is transforming profoundly in its social ties, in its structures. And every time there is a new wave, it brings about a new upheaval.
It will still depend on the measures that will be taken to contain this fifth wave. All these transformations, these adaptations of society, because for the moment in any case, there is no planned confinement, or even a curfew, not even closures of businesses, or restrictions on movement. All this is clearly put aside, for the time being, by the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran.
Are these white lines now that the politician no longer wants, can no longer cross?
There is difficulty in doing so because we have revived the economy. There have never been so many active people being employed between 15 and 64 for I believe 40 years, so the company is extraordinarily creative, precisely because of the pandemic: we thought for two years , so it comes out on the other side, we don’t want to break it. Afterwards, it is true that Christmas is coming, and we know very well that it is an essential moment of the family bond and of consumption. And then behind it is the election, which makes nobody want to be the bad guy with the stick. So, there is all that playing.
You quoted Christmas, and it is quite interesting since the government spokesman, Gabriel Attal, said that the measures announced this week by the government the third dose, the wearing of the mask indoors in particular, was to save the end of year celebrations. Why is this important for the French?
There are two things. There is the feast of Christmas, which is a religious feast for Christians, but which is for all of society, a feast of children. I think that even for many Muslim or completely atheist or Jewish families, it has become the great children’s day. It is the festival of gifts. And so, at the moment, in addition, we are tightening our elbows around the children, because deep down, our great fear is that one day, there will be a virus that attacks them.
And then there are two parties at Christmas. There is this one which basically is not very dangerous because last year there was no increase in the disease at Christmas because the children were very careful with their parents and their children. Grand parents. And if there are any limitations to be given, in my opinion, they will set them on New Years Eve, because there are no more rules there. We dance, we pretend, we love each other and, of course, he is extremely satisfied with the virus.