Covid-19: Is Childhood Vaccination Really Helpful? LCI takes stock of existing data

After the authorization given by the scientific authorities, the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 will be able to begin this Wednesday. They will be able to benefit from the serum developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, in a version three times less dosed than that reserved for people over 12 years old. The complete vaccination schedule is two doses of the vaccine, three weeks apart.

If the government is betting a lot on this vaccination to slow down the sixth wave, which is already beginning to affect France, parents seem generally reluctant. According to an Elab survey for The Express, BFMTV and SFR published last Thursday, 68% of parents do not plan to have their children vaccinated and 47% are very opposed to it. While the decision can be difficult to make, LCI takes stock of the existing data.

After very strong progress in children, the Covid-19 is gradually slowing down its course, probably under the effect of the holidays. In children under 10, the incidence rate is 581, down 9% over one week. Conversely, the incidence rate for all ages combined increased by 7% over the same period to stand at 545.

On the other hand, the number of hospitalizations among children is increasing. On BFM this Wednesday, Olivier Véran insisted that there is “potentially more risk, statistically, of having a severe form of Covid when you are between 5 and 11 years old, even when you have no comorbidities, than of having a serious and reversible adverse reaction to the vaccine”. According to the Minister of Health, 145 children are now hospitalized in France, against 79 on August 24 and 62 on May 7. Among them, 27 are in intensive care without necessarily having comorbidities.

Most of these children, who represent just under 1% of patients treated, suffer from pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome (PIMS) which almost certainly leads to fever for several days, gastrointestinal disturbances (pain abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea) and cardiovascular system, as well as skin rashes. Since the start of the pandemic, 702 cases have been identified in France.

According to a study by the Groupe Francophone de Réanimation et d’Urgences Pédiatriques (GFRUP) carried out in 41 pediatric intensive care units, vaccination reduces the risk of developing this symptom.

The High Authority of Health (HAS), which gave its fire to the vaccination of 5-11 year olds on Monday, the effectiveness of the vaccine seems similar to that for adults. She is from “90% on symptomatic forms”, she assures, even though these data were calculated against the Delta variant, and not Omicron. “We expect this efficacy to be even higher for severe forms and deaths.”

The HAS nevertheless estimates that if for the 5.77 million children concerned the individual benefit is lower than that of adults who present less risk of serious forms linked to Covid, it is still favorable. The collective benefit will also be provided, in particular to avoid class closings and limit the next waves, when 25% of children in this age group will be vaccinated, she said.