France started vaccinating children from the age of five as governments scramble to contain fresh virus surges driven by the Omicron variant.
French health workers began administering Pfizer-BioNTech jabs to children aged between five and 11 in the government’s latest step to combat a fresh wave of cases.
The move came just two days after the national health regulator, the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS), gave the green light to the vaccine elaborated by US-based Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.
France’s Health Minister Olivier Véran said Omicron-fuelled daily Covid infections could exceed 100,000 by the end of December, according to modelling, with France recording almost 73,000 cases on Tuesday.
Finland also revealed plans to expand its vaccination programme to children aged between five and 12, a day after announcing bars must close at 9:00 pm on Christmas Eve as part of new restrictions to fight record Covid infection levels.
Over the past weeks, angry protesters took to the streets across France in rejection of the new coronavirus health pass measure.
French authorities had earlier declared an intention to relieve Covid-19 restrictions by August 9, 2021, in France.
Health pass measures will mainly target those vaccinated or who have tested negative for Covid-19.
Targeted segment will have access to public venues, including long-distance transport, restaurants and cafés – even France’s famed outdoor terraces.
Hence, the protests, which continued for the fourth weekend in a row, came just two days before the new rules come into force.
