France to launch child vaccination on Wednesday

The National Consultative Ethics Committee gave a favorable opinion on Friday for the vaccination of 5-11 year olds, an age group that is not concerned by the health pass or the future vaccination pass, which is necessary for 12 year olds and over. The other two authorities concerned should decide by Wednesday, after examining the American data in real life based on the vaccination with recall of two million American children, according to him. If all goes well, on the 22nd afternoonwe will start the vaccination of children in centers adapted for children, explained Mr. Véran. Asked about the delay compared to other countries that have already embarked on this vaccination of the youngest, the minister said that France is a country that doubts, more than some countries like Spain for example.

 

So I prefer a safe start, in transparency, and that these few days of latency before vaccinating the little ones, we can use them to vaccinate children who are at risk of serious forms, which we do in our country. Since the beginning of the vaccination, more than 20,000 children between 5 and 11 years old have already been vaccinated because they were at risk, he said. 

 

Vaccination of children is controversial because severe forms of Covid are extremely rare in this age group, while the vaccines can have cardiac side effects, which are also rare. According to the government's strategy, the interest is essentially collective to avoid that children, who often present only mild symptoms of Covid-19, become the main vectors of the epidemic.