The High Authority of Health gives the green light to the generalization of the vaccination of children.
In an opinion delivered on Monday, the body proposes "
that parents who wish to be able to vaccinate their child (ren) aged 5 to 11 years from the availability of the doses in pediatric formulation
".
For this, she proposes "
to prioritize the vaccination of schoolchildren (under 12 years old, whose characteristics are similar to those of other schoolchildren) in order to quickly complete the vaccination campaign for children aged 12 and over
".
Read also Should children be vaccinated against Covid-19?
The High Authority further indicates that the injections must be preceded "
by carrying out a serological TROD (in the absence of a known and documented history of Covid-19) in order to limit the administration of the vaccine to a single dose in positive test case.
»The time between the two doses of vaccine should be 21 days apart.
Positive risk / benefit balance
Lise Alter, HAS expert, recalled during a press conference that the benefit / risk balance remains positive for children, because if "
severe forms of Covid-19 rarely affect them
", "
80% of severe forms have been found in children without comorbidity
”. But "
with the arrival of Omicron (more contagious, Editor's note), we can expect an increase in severe forms in children
". According to clinical trials conducted by the Pfizer laboratory, the vaccine efficacy in children aged 5 to 11 years of the vaccine is of the order of 90% against symptomatic forms of the disease, she further added. recalled.
This vaccination should therefore start on Wednesday afternoon "
if all goes well,
" the Minister of Health said last weekend on France Inter.
"
The Steering Committee for the vaccination strategy of Prof. [Alain] Fischer will deliver its conclusions on the morning of December 22, after consulting real-life US data based on the booster vaccination of two million American children, which will allow us to have all the information, to communicate it transparently, and to provide reassurance,
”added Olivier Véran.