Paris (AFP)
Vaccination against Covid-19 is now open to minors aged 16 and 17 with certain diseases that put them at "very high risk of serious form", according to instructions from the Ministry of Health published on Thursday.
They will be able to receive the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, the only one authorized at this stage for 16-17 year olds.
So far, the only minors to whom vaccination was open were those between the ages of 16 and 17 who were close to immunocompromised people.
"People aged 16 and 17 suffering from a very high-risk pathology of severe form of Covid-19 are authorized, as of this day, to be vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in a vaccination center", is - he wrote in a note from the Directorate General of Health (DGS) sent to caregivers, published Thursday on its website and first reported in the daily Le Parisien / Today in France.
The list of pathologies "at very high risk of severe form of Covid" had previously been established by the health authorities for other older age groups.
It includes in particular cancers during treatment, severe chronic kidney disease, organ transplants, cystic fibrosis, trisomy 21 or certain rare diseases.
In total, the number of adults affected by these pathologies is 800,000.
In recent days, the government has expanded the list of people eligible for vaccination, to speed up the campaign.
It has been open since Saturday to 18-50 year olds with certain comorbidities, but a declaration is sufficient and a medical prescription is not required.
President Emmanuel Macron said last Friday that vaccination would be open to all adults unconditionally from June 15.
© 2021 AFP