“We have planned a direct route, we avoid the wait”

All children aged 5 to 11 now have access to vaccination against Covid-19: the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, announced on Wednesday December 22 the opening of injections to this population, without even waiting for the opinion of the advice on the vaccination strategy, expected during the day. After the ethics advisory committee and the High Authority for Health, it was normally the third opinion expected to give the green light to this opening. Even before the government’s validation, the vaccination centers have already started to organize themselves to implement this new stage as quickly as possible.

This vaccination has also already been tested a little because, since December 15, children aged 5 to 11 with co-morbidities can already receive an injection. In the 191 centers that are organized to welcome children, part of the space is already dedicated to them. “It went pretty well”, tells Alex, 10, at the exit of the vaccination box in Issy-les-Moulineaux (Hauts-de-Seine). The specific box for children has been installed at the back of the Christiane-Guillaume gymnasium.

Alex, who is a fragile boy, is therefore one of the first children to be vaccinated at this center. In a way, he rode a vaccination course that should be repeated for all the others. “Here, we avoid waiting in a large room, with administrative staff who welcome everyone to the channel and adults who know what to expect”, explains Isabelle Sakka, the head of the center. “We have planned a direct route. The parents immediately go to the cubicle to see the nurse and the doctor. There is not this recording which is a little boring and not necessarily useful for toddlers.”

Alex is indeed accompanied by his father and his mother. At least one parent must be present for the injection since we are talking about a minor population. They must also sign a certificate to authorize the injection. This document is notably available on the website of the Ministry of Health if you wish to complete it before going to the vaccination center.

In the box dedicated to children, there is a specific doctor and nurse to take the time to reassure everyone if necessary. “We must especially take into account the parents because the children adapt a little according to them. If the parents are anxious, we feel that the children are too”, explains Hortense, who takes care of this vaccination.

“Our job is to calm the anxiety, to reassure and then we vaccinate without problem.”

Hortense, nurse

to franceinfo

Beyond the personnel, the vaccine is also specific since it is the pediatric version of the Pfizer vaccine. The bottle has a cap of a different color to avoid confusion because this version for children is three times less dosed than the one dedicated to adults. Before injecting the vaccine dose, however, a serological test can be carried out by means of a small prick in the finger. “It hurt a bit”, says Alex. This drop of blood taken allows to know if the child has already contracted Covid-19. Indeed, many do not know it because they have not had any symptoms. If this test is positive, it allows a single injection to be considered, whereas the classic vaccination schedule recommends two doses for these children, three weeks apart.

The center will therefore now have to adapt its workforce, depending on the number of appointments made after Olivier Véran’s announcement. “We have already had a lot of requests from parents [avant l’ouverture] because they thought that we put into practice the reception of all 5-11 years “, says Isabelle Sakka. “Even before the green light, we already had quite a few requests.” For the most fragile children, the center already has about twenty meetings on Wednesday and thirty on Thursday.

The government’s objective is to quickly reach 350 vaccination centers in January, then to be able to offer this injection in all the available centers, numbering 1,500 today in the territory. In total, 1 million doses are already available for this sector. The current list, with contacts, is available on the sante.fr site. The city professionals will also be able to carry out the injections: thus, from Friday, they will receive the doses they have ordered, ie a vial of 10 doses for the moment. Nurses can also perform injections on medical prescription.