• Thursday, September 2, the start of the school year takes place in France and millions of students are expected in the classrooms.

  • While the epidemic situation remains very fragile in France, this re-entry which mixes the unvaccinated population and activities without a mask raises fears of a significant rebound.

  • With the impossibility of vaccinating children and a health protocol judged by many insufficient, return to a return to all dangers.

As of Monday, August 23, the epidemic situation in mainland France presents some timid positive signals. The incidence and number of cases of coronavirus have been declining slightly for several days after a plateau of around 25,000 cases, which resulted in deaths and hospitalizations in much smaller quantities than previous waves, further proof of vaccine effectiveness. The percentage of vaccinated is precisely the other good news for France: 70.2% of the population has received a first dose, and 60.5% of French people are fully vaccinated. Coverage in terms of primary injection superior to the United States or Israel, two countries which have long been the leader far ahead of France.

But this assessment in rather light halftones could quickly darken, with the arrival of the start of the school year on Thursday, September 2.

20 Minutes

takes stock.

What's wrong with back to school?

The start of the school year concerns a large public, mostly unvaccinated against covid-19.

Already, children under 12 are not eligible (except exceptional pathologies and comorbidities), since no European study has been finalized on this population.

The verdict and the authorization should not fall until 2022.

As for adolescents between 12 and 17 years old, this is the least vaccinated age group among the eligible populations: more than 43% of 12-17 year olds have not received the slightest dose of vaccine, and less 'one third is fully vaccinated. On average, only 18.4% of the total eligible population did not receive a dose.

In addition, there are (very) many situations without a mask indoors: school canteens, indoor sports allowed, and wearing a mask not compulsory for children in kindergarten.

However, the Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer has reiterated it well, the health pass will not be requested from the school: it will therefore be the only closed places in France without wearing a mask where the pass does not. is not required, with the least vaccinated population in the country, Hence this feeling of hole in the racket.

According to models from the Institut Pasteur, half of the country's new infections will occur in children.

What are the risks ?

Hélène Rossinot, doctor in Public Health, slice: "Clearly, the start of the school year can screw up the shit". Several elements are sources of concern: the incidence among future students is five times higher than last year, when the start of the school year (school and professional) had led to a sharp increase in cases until the second wave.

The non-vaccination of pupils is a double danger. Already, for themselves: “There is a big risk that children are very infected, and they are not protected because not vaccinated. Even in children, the coronavirus - and a fortiori the delta variant - can cause hospitalizations, long sequelae and serious forms, ”continues the doctor. Several regions of France report an increase in hospitalizations among the very young since the onset of Delta, hospitalizations extremely rare before this variant. The United States, also affected by the same variant, reports a record number of children hospitalized due to Covid-19.

The second danger concerns the rest of the population, and in particular the fragile. As we saw this summer and the previous one, the increase in incidence among young people (in this case, 20-29 year olds during June July 2021 and July August 2020) always ends up leading to an increase in incidence. among other age groups. If children become infected with each other, this increase in cases should therefore end up affecting the most vulnerable populations. Of course, mass vaccination of adults should "limit the damage a little" during this transfer of incidence, notes Hélène Rossinot.

But firstly, the vaccine does not completely prevent serious forms and deaths (even if it protects them by more than 90%), and above all, 14% of the elderly in France are not vaccinated at all, as are many many fragile people.

If the children become excessively contaminated, this could therefore lead to a significant wave of resuscitation and death, with braking measures (curfew, closure of cultural and restoration places, confinement) probably very little accepted by the population.

To the point perhaps that they would not be implemented.

How to limit contamination at school?

Numerous real-life studies attest to this: in addition to protecting against serious forms and death, the vaccine reduces the risk of catching the virus but also of transmitting it. One of the solutions would therefore be to speed up the vaccination of 12-17 year olds. In this sense, the Ministry of Education ensures that it will be possible to be vaccinated directly in middle and high schools, which should lead to a rapid increase in adolescents vaccinated.

For 0-12 year olds, vaccination remains impossible. What should we do then? In a column published Thursday, August 19, many doctors called for strengthening the health system in schools. "The Minister has set a level 2 health protocol, while protocol 3 or 4 should be applied in view of the incidence in young people," pleads Hélène Rossinot. The main differences with the level 2 protocol would be the ban on indoor sport, catering only by class in the 1st degree, and the hybridization of courses (distance and face-to-face) in high school.

To this, the doctor adds increased monitoring of the quality of the air and ventilation. there are not several windows as well as in the canteens ”, as well as a screening strategy several times a week by saliva tests.

Systems already in place in several countries which, like France, fear this return of all dangers.

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