After the United States, Israel, or even Canada, gives way to Europe.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved this Thursday the vaccination against Covid-19 of children aged 5 to 11 with Pfizer, because "the benefits outweigh the risks", estimates the EMA in its opinion , eagerly awaited for several weeks.
This European decision is a necessary condition, but not necessarily sufficient for the vaccination of young children to begin in France.
The High Authority for Health (HAS) will now have to decide, then the government will make a decision.
3 million children vaccinated in the United States
But while the fifth wave has started very strongly and the incidence rate explodes in children aged 6 to 10 (nearly 400 cases per 100,000 people over the past week), the pressure could be more and more strong.
This subject of the vaccination of children nevertheless raises legitimate questions or even real fear among some parents, to which the executive cannot be indifferent.
The fact remains that the EMA took a decision several weeks before the date initially planned.
Initially, its decision was expected "mid-December", and the government thought it would have made a decision at the very end of the year.
In an opinion issued on November 17, the Academy of Medicine recommended for its part to wait for new data to vaccinate all children, even those in good health.
Read alsoVaccination of children against Covid-19: why is the American case special?
In the United States, three weeks after the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 began, more than 3 million of them received a first injection in the arm.
The bites have also just started in Israel, while Canada is preparing to launch after obtaining the agreement of health authorities.