It will therefore be at the end of the year or early January 2022. Jean Castex indicated, this Monday evening, that children aged 5 to 11 will be able to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in a few weeks.
This could start as early as December 20, said Olivier Véran.
Children aged 5 to 11 suffering from comorbidities or living in the entourage of fragile people will be able to receive their first injection of Pfizer vaccine from December 15, as recommended by the High Authority for Health (HAS) at the end of November, officialized the Prime Minister.
The government is moving very cautiously on this sensitive subject.
On several occasions in recent weeks, the Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer and that of Health Olivier Véran have assured that vaccinating children under 12 would be "optional".
Parents' consent will be required.
A new opinion from the HAS, as well as the position of the orientation council of the vaccine strategy, are expected in the coming days or weeks.
"Collective benefit"
If children are little at risk of serious forms (especially compared to adults) despite the arrival of different variants, vaccinating them would in particular limit the number of "long Covid" and protect their parents and relatives.
Because vaccines reduce the risk of transmission, even if they do not completely eliminate it, far from it.
According to a recent study by the Institut Pasteur, parents of children also present an increased risk of contamination.
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“Certainly, few children develop serious forms, but complications exist.
Then, there is, of course, a collective benefit to reduce the dynamics of the epidemic and for the little ones, it is the best guarantee of following a normal schooling, which seems to me essential ”, recently indicated to us the epidemiologist. at the Institut Pasteur Arnaud Fontanet.
Among 6-10 year olds, almost one in 100 children tested positive last week (corresponding to an incidence rate of 1,000).
The fact remains that it will be, a priori, complicated to achieve vaccine coverage as high in 5-11 year olds as in adolescents.
Nearly 80% of 12-17 year olds are fully vaccinated in France, one of the highest rates in Europe.
