Covid-19: France launches vaccination campaign for children aged 5 to 11

Published on : 12/22/2021 – 09:45

The vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 is officially open, announced Wednesday, December 22, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, who on the other hand indicated that the booster dose was not extended to adolescents “for the moment “.

“We are opening the official vaccination for children” of this age group, declared the minister on BFMTV, specifying that on the sites of appointment, the category of 5-11 years would be opened “in the morning” .

>> To read: Covid-19: facing the Omicron variant, Europe is tightening the screw

The minister formalized this measure after having “had the favorable opinions of the health and scientific authorities”. So far, only the vaccination of 5-11 year olds at risk has been open since December 15.

“We really have to start this vaccination of children,” he said. “All you need is the agreement of one of the two parents, a parent will have to be physically present,” he recalled.

About 350 centers will ensure with “a particular circuit” the vaccination of children, detailed the minister.

100,000 contaminations per day by the end of the year

The High Authority for Health (HAS) had given the green light on Monday for the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 – on a voluntary basis -, after the Ethics Committee (CCNE) on Friday. A final opinion was published Wednesday morning by the Orientation Council of the vaccine strategy.

The opening of vaccination for 5-11 year olds comes at a time when the Omicron variant, which is more contagious, should soon become the majority in France. Olivier Véran specified that this variant, which currently represents between 20% and 30% of contaminations in France, should become the majority between Christmas and New Year, with consequences on the number of new contaminations. These should reach 100,000 per day by the end of the year, warned the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran.

For her part, the Minister of Labor, Élisabeth Borne, called on companies to “accelerate” the use of teleworking in the face of Covid-19, asking them to prepare “from now” to “strengthen” it at the start of the school year with a target from 3 to 4 days a week.

“It is clear that with the situation, we must accelerate, strengthen teleworking (…). I ask companies to prepare now to reinforce teleworking at the start of the school year, therefore on January 3, with a target of three days minimum for positions which allow it, or even four days when possible “, declared the minister Wednesday morning on Europe 1.

With AFP and Reuters