COVID-19 vaccine: The booster campaign for 12-17 year olds starts on January 24, 2022

Adolescents aged 12 to 17 years can now receive a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) and the Vaccine Strategy Guidance Council (COSV) gave this opinion on 18 January 2022, followed by the Ministry of Solidarity and Health which decided to open this possibility as of Monday 24 January. The High Authority for Health (HAS) will be giving its opinion shortly. At the end of December, she had recommended this recall for frail teenagers.

This booster is open due to the spread of the Omicron variant, which is also affecting this age group. The booster given to adolescents aged 12 to 17 years is the Pfizer (Comirnaty) vaccine since the HAS does not recommend using the Moderna (Spikevax) vaccine in adults under 30 years of age in France.

Due to slower antibody decline in adolescents, a delay of 6 months after the second injection is recommended for this booster dose (compared to 3 months for adults). It is not mandatory and is therefore not necessary to maintain the validity of the vaccination pass for adolescents aged 16 and 17 years. They are considered fully vaccinated with two doses.

For 12-15 year olds, the health pass is mandatory in the places where it is due. As a reminder, the health pass can also be obtained from a negative test of less than 24 hours. These young people are not subject to the vaccination plan.

The vaccination pass replaces the health pass from the age of 16, so a negative test is no longer recognized to obtain it, but it remains valid with just two doses (compared to three for adults, from 18 years and one month).