The government opened Wednesday, vaccination for children with chronic liver disease, heart and chronic respiratory, neurological, obesity, diabetes, primary immunodeficiency or trisomy 21.
Le Monde with AFP
With the approval of the health authorities, the government opened Wednesday, December 15, injections to the 360 000 children aged 5 to 11 with a risk of a severe form of Covid-19 and those living in the entourage of immunocompromised individuals.
It is children with chronic liver disease, heart and chronic respiratory, neurological, obesity, diabetes, primary immunodeficiency or trisomy 21.
“We’re going to do,” said Agence France-Presse Caroline Boudet, mum Louise, 7, reached trisomy 21. “First, because we have confidence, then because I fear more the effects of Covid for Louise and finally because vaccinate children seems necessary at this stage of the pandemic. “But” for the moment we have no information about how it will happen, “she laments.
In practical terms, there will be different vaccination sites, said Tuesday the ministry of health: pediatric hospital center, several vaccination centers in each county and city doctors can also order doses and vaccinate children from late December.
Some 1.9 million doses ordered child were in December and another million will be delivered in January. The bottles, which will include ten doses have an orange cap to differentiate them from adult doses (purple cap) and avoid errors.
Several countries have already launched this campaign
This vaccination of children at risk appears as a first step before a generalization, in the days or weeks ahead, which would be on a voluntary basis.
Possible since its approval in the European Union on 25 November, it is made with three times less dosed version of Pfizer vaccine. After Israel and the United States, several European countries, such as Greece, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal have launched this campaign since the beginning of December.
In a context outbreak of the epidemic in France, with an incidence rate (the proportion of new cases) that explodes in 5-11 years, the government seems to be preparing minds for several days.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Jean Castex, estimated that vaccinating young children was “a necessity”. But before making any decision, the government is awaiting the opinion, imminent, the National Health Authority that he used to follow.
In a notice published on 6 December, the vaccine strategy guidance the Council, one of the advisory bodies created during the pandemic has already considered that “the indications for vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 years appear together. “
Generalization of the campaign” around December 20 “
However, he conditioned his introduction to getting data “in real life” to ensure “that the risk-benefit balance is favorable”, which could occur after getting US data, ” possibly by the end of December. ” The government has also asked the opinion of the National Consultative Ethics Committee, which is expected to rule Thursday.
To his supporters, the immediate vaccination of 5-11 years would limit contamination from children. “There is the benefit-risk group that often emphasizes,” but there are also “individual benefit”, said Tuesday on the Senate Public Secretary of State for Children, Adrien cleat. “There are a number of children, very few – fortunately – who develop severe,” he recalled
.
Conversely, the learned societies of Pediatrics estimated that the urgency of the childhood immunization was not obvious, since they “have mostly minor forms of the disease.”
In early December, the health minister, Olivier Veran, had said that the child vaccination campaign could begin in France “on or about December 20 vaccination centers, 27 December for the city of medicine and pharmacies “.