Covid-19 in France: a vaccination campaign in middle and high school from the start of the school year

Published on : 08/22/2021 – 4:38 PM

A vaccination campaign through middle and high schools will begin at the start of the school year for students over 12 who wish, announced Sunday, August 22, the Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, in an interview in the Sunday Journal.

The protocol adopted for the start of the September 2 school year is the one known as “level 2”: face-to-face lessons in schools, colleges and high schools, indoor mask compulsory from primary school, limitation of mixing and reinforced ventilation.

While vaccination is open in France to over 12 years, “in all colleges and high schools in France, students and staff will have access to the vaccine, near or within their establishment,” said the Minister of National Education.

“Depending on the situation, either mobile teams will come to vaccinate in the establishments, or we will organize the movement of student volunteers, in connection with the health services, to the vaccination centers,” he said.

>> To read also: “Covid-19 in France: concerns around the Delta variant two weeks before the start of the school year”

More than half of adolescents already vaccinated for the first time

About 55% of 12-17 year olds have already received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine since this summer.

For teachers, Jean-Michel Blanquer judged “neither legitimate, neither desirable, nor useful” to require a health pass, preferring to bet on “a logic of confidence and responsibility”.

In the event of contamination in a class, the period of isolation of seven days, therefore of remote school, will not be required for the vaccinated pupils, “the same rule as for the rest of the population”, argued the Minister.

“An unvaccinated pupil is in a more risky situation than a pupil who has received at least one injection. Asking him to stay at home in the event of risky contact is to protect him and others,” he said. -he explains.

Class closures in the primary in the event of contamination

In the primary, children not old enough to be vaccinated, the rule remains the closure of the entire class for seven days in the event of contamination.

To protect medical confidentiality, the pupil’s vaccination status will be communicated on the basis of a certificate of vaccination from the parents.

Finally, with regard to school trips, students will not be asked for a health pass in places where they are not mixed with the public (swimming pools or libraries).

But as of September 30, it will be requested from 12 years old in places that require it.

With AFP