“We need to advance the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11, which started slowly.
“During his press conference Thursday evening, Jean Castex had to recognize that France was behind in this regard.
Just over 200,000 children aged 5 to 11 have received a first dose of vaccine to date, the vast majority of them since December 22.
Previously, only those who were fragile and at risk of a serious form could be immunized.
The vaccination coverage of 5-11 year olds with at least one dose thus amounts to 3.5% in France.
A much lower rate compared to that of our main neighbors, even though the European Medicines Agency had given the green light for all countries at the same time, at the end of November.
For the moment, only the Pfizer vaccine can be administered to children under 12 years old.
More than half in Spain and Canada
We looked at the official sites of the different countries.
In Spain, more than half of children aged 5 to 11 have already received a first dose of vaccine.
Some regions have organized vaccination directly in schools, and parents have joined.
In Galicia, more than 80% of children are at least partially immunized.
This rate rises to 28% in Italy, and almost 16% in Germany.
Switzerland is closer to France but still more advanced, with 5% of 5-11 year olds having received their first dose.
Canada and the United States, which launched with Europe, are - respectively - at 51% and 29%.
In other European countries, we only found vaccination coverage with at least one dose among 0-11 year olds.
This amounts to 12% in Belgium and 11% in Austria.
If we restricted ourselves to 5-11 year olds, we would have higher rates since the majority of vaccinated children are over 5 years old (the youngest certainly suffer from high-risk pathologies of a severe form of Covid).
Vaccinate children in pharmacies?
So, how to explain this French delay?
This can be seen as both a supply and a demand problem.
It is always difficult to find a niche close to home in many departments.
For a person living in Aurillac (Cantal), for example, the only slots available on Doctolib this Sunday are in a vaccination center located more than 40 km away.
For the moment, only doctors, pediatricians or nurses (on medical prescription) can vaccinate children.
Jean Castex promised to make things easier by "allowing more places and professionals, including pharmacists", to do so.
Read alsoChildren's vaccination: why the campaign is starting very slowly
On the demand side, some parents are reluctant to have their child receive a first dose. Both for fear of adverse effects, but also because they do not necessarily see the point. According to the latest survey by Public Health France, published on December 16, 66% of adults with adolescents and only 43% of those with children aged 5 to 11 intended to have them vaccinated.
In its opinion issued on December 20, the High Authority for Health had nevertheless estimated that the benefit / risk ratio of vaccination of 5-11 year olds was “favorable” on an individual level.
Nearly 600 children under the age of 10 diagnosed with Covid are currently hospitalized (not all are for treatment of Covid).
That is almost six times more than the previous highest level, in November 2020. And if they remain much less at risk of serious forms than adults, the youngest can be affected by pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome (PIMS), especially if they are not vaccinated.
