Lhe anti-Covid vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 received the green light from the High Authority for Health (HAS) on Monday, December 20. However, the health authority does not wish to make it “required or compulsory” and specifies in a press release: “Due to its vaccine efficacy against the major variants currently circulating and its satisfactory tolerance profile, the HAS considers that Pfizer’s vaccine can be used from the age of 5. “
The HAS “suggests that parents who wish to be able to vaccinate their[s] child[s] aged 5 to 11 years from the availability of the doses in pediatric formulation ”. It also proposes to vaccinate as a priority “secondary school [de moins de 12 ans, dont les caractéristiques sont proches de celle des autres collégiens] in order to quickly complete the vaccination campaign for children aged 12 and over ”.
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It also recommends that the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 “can be done within the framework of a shared medical decision, without making it exigible or compulsory after having provided families and children with clear information and adapted to their age, on knowledge of the benefits and risks associated with the administration of this vaccine ”. The vaccination of children should be preceded by the performance of a serological test (in the absence of a known and documented history of Covid-19) in order to limit the administration of the vaccine to a single dose in the event of a positive test.
On Saturday, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran indicated that the vaccination against Covid-19 would be offered to all children from 5 to 11 years old from Wednesday “if all goes well”. The National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE) gave a favorable opinion on Friday for this age group, which is not affected by the health pass or the future vaccination pass. This pass is required for ages 12 and over.
The Pr Alain Fischer has yet to make his conclusions in the middle of the week. The vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 at risk of a severe form of Covid-19 (because they are suffering from obesity or other diseases) has already been possible since December 15.