• In recent weeks, children over 12 can, if they and their parents wish, be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

  • For younger people, on the other hand, anti-Covid vaccination, although studied, is not yet on the agenda.

  • However, 6,782 children under 12 have already received the anti-Covid vaccine, for health reasons.

They are not yet eligible.

And yet, according to figures from the Ministry of Health, more than 6,700 children under 12 have already been vaccinated in France against the coronavirus, although no anti-Covid vaccine has yet receipt of marketing authorization (AMM) for this age group.

So how is it that these thousands of young children have already received at least a first dose?

Under what conditions can children be vaccinated today?

Since June 15, children over 12 have been eligible for vaccination, if they so wish and obtain the consent of their parents. To date, 817,704 adolescents aged 12 to 17 have received their first dose, and 86,762 are now fully vaccinated. In this case, they receive two doses of the messenger RNA vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech, the only one to have received Marketing Authorization to date for this young audience.

And the age limit is strict. The Ministry of Health clearly recalls it on its site for those under 12: "For the moment, I cannot be vaccinated". The reason: “there are few studies on the effects of anti-Covid vaccination in children under 12,” indicates Sylvie Hubinois, pediatrician and former president of the French Association for Ambulatory Pediatrics. In the absence of data on efficacy and harmlessness (…), this restriction, which could change in the coming months, is justified for the time being ”. Today, “several trials in children are underway, as well as a trial with the Pfizer vaccine in children under 12, completes the National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE) in an opinion issued on June 8. The use of vaccines in children under 12 has not yet been evaluated. So,the security conditions are not met to consider vaccination in this population ”.

Why have some children under 12 already received the vaccine?

Neither freebie nor error: if young children have already received at least a first dose, it is because their state of health requires it. As early as March, the French Pediatric Society (SFP) decided on the vaccination of children. If "to date, this vaccination does not appear to be necessary in children in the general population, however, a very small number of children at very high risk of severe Covid-19 could be vaccinated according to the same schedule as adults , as soon as possible, despite the absence of MA, ”she indicated. This concerns young patients with “autoimmune polyendocrinopathy”, “specific immune deficits of the type I interferon pathway”, or even “genetic predisposition to viral encephalopathies”, quotes the SFP.

“It is not a question of vaccinating all the children with respiratory pathology, specifies Dr. Hubinois. These are probably only affected by children with significant immune deficiency, congenital or therapeutic, followed by specialists. If these are very specific indications for fragile children at very high risk of severe forms, their vaccination appears justified, given the resurgence of the epidemic caused by the delta variant. There must be consensus, because even if it is rare, we know that there can be serious forms in children. On the other hand, underlines the pediatrician, it is absolutely necessary that it be on a case-by-case basis: these are prescriptions outside Marketing Authorization, which must be exceptional. But this scenario still concerns several thousand children in France. And for each of them,before any off-label prescription, a balance must be made between the expected benefit of the vaccine and the risk of developing a severe form of the coronavirus. For these very specific cases, if they are vaccinated, it is precisely because the benefit / risk balance is favorable ”.

"There is the possibility of vaccinating, including out of AMM, young children who would present very severe risk factors", echoed the epidemiologist Daniel Lévy-Bruhl during a press briefing of Public Health France on the 2 nd. July.

And "the vast majority very likely corresponds to this kind of individual decision".

How old are young children vaccinated?

According to the latest count from the Ministry of Health dated July 6, consulted by

20 Minutes

, 6,782 children under 12 had received at least one dose of vaccine: 3,057 under 4 years old, 1,272 aged 5 to 9 years, and 2,453 among 10-11 year olds.

And among them, 1,149 were already fully vaccinated.

Figures which "reflect reality", confirmed Public Health France on July 2.

However, these figures correspond to extremely low vaccination coverage among those under 12, who to date are less than 0.1% to have received at least a first dose of vaccine.

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  • Vaccination

  • Covid 19

  • Coronavirus

  • Health

  • epidemic

  • Child