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France 24
France 24
Politics

'Gentle' France lags behind eager EU neighbours in race to vaccinate kids as Omicron rages

France European Union EMA Jean Castex FRANCE 24
A paediatrician administers a dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to Dimitri Marck, 8, at the National Velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, west of Paris, France, on December 22, 2021. © Michel Euler, AP Photo

As France's bid to vaccinate 5- to 11-year-olds against Covid-19 hits the one-month mark, progress remains ploddingly slow, light years behind many EU neighbours. As the Omicron wave rages through France with average confirmed cases exceeding 300,000 a day, Prime Minister Jean Castex on Thursday euphemised that the jab campaign had begun "gently" and pledged to loosen the strict logistics holding it back. FRANCE 24 takes a look at France's lagging effort to vaccinate kids and explores why.

Saturday marks one month since France began vaccinating its general population of 5- to 11-year-olds on December 22, a week after it allowed vulnerable kids access to Pfizer-BioNtech's paediatric doses. Figures vary slightly depending on the official source, but uptake by all accounts has been anecdotal so far.

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