The Listening Post

Dazed and confused: Europe’s troubled COVID vaccine rollout

Mixed messaging and misinformation hamper Europe’s hesitant COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

Scientists say vaccines are our way out of this pandemic. But with trust in vaccination at an all-time low, the role of the messengers – politicians, pharmaceutical companies and the news media – is as important as ever.

Contributors:
Kai Kupferschmidt – Contributing correspondent, Science Magazine
Hristio Boytchev – Germany correspondent, Research Europe
Deborah Fuller – Professor, University of Washington School of Medicine
Mun-Keat Looi – International features editor, The BMJ

On our radar:

The US government has launched a new vaccine campaign – producer Johanna Hoes talks to Richard Gizbert about the White House’s use of Christian broadcasters, sports stars and a country music legend to convince conservative Americans that vaccination is in their best interests.

From COVID conspiracism to vaccine hesitancy: France’s other epidemic

France is where lab vaccines were invented – so how did the French grow so sceptical, so reluctant to get the COVID jab?

Contributors:
Lucie Delaporte – Journalist, Médiapart
Richard Sénéjoux – Senior reporter, Télérama
Antoine Bristielle – Sociologist, Sciences Po & Researcher, Fondation Jean-Jaurès