More than two weeks after the opening of vaccination to children, and at a time when they have never been so numerous to be infected and hospitalized, the available places are sorely lacking, everywhere in the country.
Barely “1%” children from 5 to 11 years old have currently received at least one dose of vaccine, indicated this Friday on LCI Alain Fischer, the “mister vaccines” of the government. In large part because of the few slots available.
If the less populated departments are particularly poorly provided, the metropolises do not do much better. There are only 1.5 slots per 1,000 children in Paris; 0.4 in the Rhône or 5.5 in the Bouches-du-Rhône. Only the Côtes-d’Armor seem (a little) well off, with 32.6 slots for 1,000 children.
While the contaminations of children have skyrocketed for several weeks, with a record number of minors hospitalized, 119 in mid-December, the vaccination of the youngest is still struggling to be implemented effectively.
“The vaccination campaign for 5-11 year olds has been launched, it must continue calmly, the very latest figures suggest that we are entering a fairly good dynamic”, are we trying to reassure the Ministry of Health this Friday. More than 400 centers now offer vaccines for children, against a hundred when the opening to this age group, at the end of December. “The goal is to quickly expand this number of centers”, further specifies the ministry.
If the vaccination of young children is done with the Pfizer vaccine, the product is three times less concentrated than for an adult. France has so far received 1.9 million doses and is due to receive an additional million in January, for a total of more than 6 million at the end of February. Hinting at an increase in the number of appointments available.
In addition, the time between the first two injections of the vaccine for children has been changed. The 21-day interval remains “Optimal”, but it is now possible to make an appointment of 18 to 24 days between the first and the second dose. You still need to be able to find a niche near your home.