Covid-19: Olivier Véran alerts on the number of children in intensive care – Release

By evoking the balance sheet among those under 12, the Minister of Health has found an indirect way of recalling the benefits of vaccination, including among the youngest.

“Tonight, there are 64 children in our various pediatric intensive care units hospitalized for a serious Covid”. Tuesday evening, before the interruption of the parliamentary debate on the vaccine pass in the Assembly, Olivier Véran released the shock figures. According to the Minister of Health, 64, “This is twice the maximum recorded in our country since the start of the pandemic”.

“The risks for a child to present a severe form are very low, but there are”, insisted Olivier Véran who specifies that of the 28 deaths of minors recorded since March 2020, three are “Formally accountable” to Covid-19, the 25 others having “A potential link but which is not proven”.

It is interesting to look at the details of hospitalizations by age. According to the latest data from Public Health France, the resuscitation figures are particularly high in the unvaccinated age group of 0-9 years. They are currently 51 in critical care, double the highest reached since the start of the pandemic, namely 26 in April 2020.

This is not the case in other age groups. There are 19 patients aged 10 to 19 in intensive care against 26 at the highest in May 2020. All ages combined 3,600 beds were occupied against more than 7,000 during the peak of the first wave.

This differential is in itself a pro-vaccination plea. The age group in which the number of people in intensive care rises the highest compared to previous waves is the least vaccinated age group. If children tend to have less severe forms than adults, it still happens. The current explosion of cases (nearly 300,000 contaminations in one day) will therefore automatically increase the tension in the pediatric departments. Vaccination therefore has a protective effect at the individual level, including for children. It has been open for 5-11 year olds since the end of December.