Bad news for the students. An extension of the school holidays beyond January 3 is “not the favored hypothesis” to curb the Covid-19 epidemic and would only be decided as a “last resort”, the Minister of Justice said on Sunday. National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer on BFMTV. “From the start, there has always been pressure to close the school as soon as there is an alert and I have always resisted this pressure as much as possible because the school is not an adjustment variable. , it is essential for our children and therefore it is the last thing to close “, he hammered.
“Children first”, supports Blanquer
“This is what we do last because we put children first in all of our decisions, children first,” he added. Asked about a possible postponement of the start of the school year scheduled for January 3, the minister said: “we never close any eventuality (…) but this is obviously not the preferred hypothesis, we would only do it last competence”.
“The incidence rate in the general population is a criterion but it is less valid now because a lot of people infected, that does not necessarily mean much if there are a lot of people vaccinated. It’s saturation in hospitals and in intensive care units which is important “to watch,” he recalled.
Vaccination at school considered
Asked about the vaccination of 5-11 year olds, Jean-Michel Blanquer indicated that it is “not excluded to offer vaccination” at school, as has been “done in middle and high school, for 12 -17 years”. “We are able to do the same thing at school but there the whole health system is organized to be able to vaccinate children outside the school system. We would be able to do it in certain places, for example where we knows that we have to ‘go towards’ to be more efficient and to have more families who get involved, “he continued.
Not amazed at the reluctance to vaccinate children
Asked whether, according to a survey, among parents of children aged 5 to 11, seven in ten do not wish to vaccinate them, the minister said: “It does not surprise me”. “Families are always more careful when it comes to children under 12, so 30% seems to me to be a good base”.
“We started with figures like this when we were talking about 12-17 year olds and now we have waited and all the opinions are positive, international experiences are rather convincing so today parents (5-11 year olds ) can safely go to this vaccine, as they go to other vaccines, “said the minister.