Covid school: protocol, isolation, vaccination pass at 16?

The vaccination pass at 16 for school trips and activities

This January 4 in the early evening and in a particularly tense climate, the deputies raised to 16 years the threshold required for the vaccination pass for “extracurricular and extracurricular”, sports or cultural activities, against 12 years initially planned during the first reading examination of the bill establishing the vaccination pass. A decree should give details of the activities concerned. The amendment of the socialist Cécile Untermaier, validated in session by the government provides ” do not apply the vaccination pass for minors aged 12 to 15 but maintain the current health pass system for these minors “. as part of school trips, and extracurricular and extracurricular activities including sports and cultural activities. The vaccination pass would therefore only be requested at “the‘age from which a minor can be vaccinated against Covid-19 without parental consent“, ie 16 years. If this bill is validated as it is by the Senate, the vaccination pass will therefore remain, required from 12 years for” private activities “, such as going to a restaurant, said Oliver Véran.

New health protocol at school: what is changing?

The students, from kindergarten to high school, made their return to school on Monday, January 3, with a reinforced health protocol. Primary schools remain at level 3 and at level 2 for middle and high school students, but new measures must be observed. Thereby, when a teacher is absent, the pupils should not be distributed among the other classes while awaiting replacement. The sports activities should preferably be organized outdoors, or indoors provided that they are “low intensity activities compatible with the wearing of a mask and the rules of distancing”. Since January 3, 2022, moments of conviviality are prohibited between staff, or between staff and students. The galette des rois will therefore not be able to take place at the beginning of the year because these festive moments do not allow to respect the barrier gestures, estimates the government. Parent-teacher meetings as well as meetings between professors should preferably be organized remotely or by videoconference. School trips organized in an enclosed space (theater, museum, cinema, etc.) must be postponed, just like school trips.

The Ministry of National Education has also adapted the isolation rules at school when a positive case is detected in the classroom. The duration of isolation differs depending on the vaccination schedule of the students.

Other change: in primary school, classes no longer close after three positive cases. In fact, only students who test negative every two days are now admitted to school. The Ministry of National Education specifies that “there is no longer any need to automatically close the class if three positive cases are identified“. However, the reception of students may be suspended depending on the situation, especially if a large number of students are positive at school.

The latest news on Covid at school

• The children of caregivers will be welcomed at school in the event of a class closure. This January 4, Gabriel Attal indicated that the children of healthcare staff whose class or school has closed due to positive cases of the coronavirus will be able to continue to attend school normally. “We have planned to welcome the children of caregivers everywhere in France, to ensure that caregivers can continue to work. If the children were to have to stay at home, obviously, we plan to welcome them at school “, explained the spokesperson of the government on France Inter.
• Why did you wait until the start of the new school year to communicate about the new school health protocol? Jean-Michel Blanquer spoke on LCI on January 3. “It is a process that cannot be otherwise if we want to make decisions as close as possible to reality. There is preparatory work, we arrive at the Defense Council, we look at the main principles – for example we decided that the school would be open“said the minister. Then”we had to wait until Friday for the opinion of the Scientific Council and the High Authority for Public Health. And then the development of all the protocols“.
• No FFP2 mask at school. The Minister of National Education is not in favor of wearing the FFP2 mask at school because he considers that it “is very difficult to teach” with it. In Le Parisien, Jean-Michel Blanquer calls for “teachers’ spirit of responsibility” and respect for barrier gestures.
• Notice of strike filed by unions. On December 28, the Snes-FSU, the main secondary teachers’ union, lodged a strike notice for the week of January 3 to 7 which will be renewed throughout the month of January. The Snes-FSU denounces the measures deemed “insufficient” taken by the government to fight against the fifth wave of Covid-19. “The absence of government announcements for middle and high schools in the middle of the fifth wave, with a variant that circulates quickly, is irresponsible“Says the union in a statement.”We want extremely concrete progress, starting with the fact that all adults in middle and high schools are equipped with surgical masks or FFP2 masks.“, explained Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of the Snes-FSU union, which also claims”a real testing policy in middle and high schools “, as well as the number of CO2 sensors equipped“. On December 27, the Sud education Paris union also filed a strike notice for the period between January 3 and March 5 to demand”means and a policy to protect the health and safety of staff and the population in the face of the covid-19 epidemic“Other unions, such as the FSU, Sud Education Solidaires, the CGT and the Snalc are also calling for other measures.
• Wearing a mask from 6 years old in certain public places. From this Monday, January 3, children from the age of 6 (instead of 11) will have to wear the mask in certain public places, according to a decree published on January 1 in the Official Journal. The mask will therefore be compulsory at this age in public transport including taxis and VTC, as well as in establishments open to the public, in particular performance halls, places of worship, museums, libraries, shopping centers and shops, covered markets. The only exception: the practice of artistic activities, such as singing or theater, or the practice of sports.
• The exams will take place face to face for the students. Frédérique Vidal confirmed on December 29 on France Info that the students would spend their exams scheduled for January in person, but postponements could be considered “on a case-by-case basis” specified the Minister of Higher Education. There will also be no gauge in the amphitheatres as Jean-Michel Blanquer had announced the day before.
• A 20 million euros bugdget to finance the purchase of CO2 sensors at school. “Nothing will replace aeration. The rule is about 10 minutes per hour “, recalled Jean-Michel Blanquer on France Inter on December 28.” The equipment of CO2 sensors is a competence of the communities but we are in support of these communities (.. .) I have no doubt that we will go towards equipping everyone, ”he added, specifying that an envelope of 20 million euros had been devoted to the financing of these CO2 sensors for schools.
• No health pass for teachers. While the government wants to extend the health pass and transform it into a vaccination pass, Jean-Michel Blanquer is opposed to introducing it at school, including for teachers, who are 95% vaccinated. It is according to him a measure of “last resort”. “The school is a sanctuary, a place apart. There must not be any factor that prevents the people who work there, teachers and students from going there,” said the Minister of National Education on December 19. on BFMTV.

Vaccination of children from 5 to 11 years old: how many doses?

Vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 has been open since December 22 following favorable opinions from the High Authority for Health and the National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE). Vaccination of children is not compulsory and is not a condition of obtaining a health pass., specifies the government. The vaccine used for 5-11 year olds is Comirnaty vaccine (from Pfizer / BioNTech laboratories) with a dose reduced to a third compared to an adult dose. In addition, children who have not been infected with the virus will receive two doses, spaced 21 days apart, the others will only have one dose.

In a press release dated December 23, pediatric learned societies support the recommendations issued by the HAS and the Vaccine Policy Orientation Council as well as the position of the National Consultative Ethics Committee. “As of now, this vaccination campaign should make it possible to offer families and volunteer children broad access to vaccination by focusing on first, children entering college“specify health professionals.

What are the measures in the canteen?

Since Monday, December 13, the mixing of students from different classes, class groups or levels has been limited in school canteens. Concretely, the pupils will have to have lunch every day at the same table with the same classmates and respect a distance of at least two meters with those of the other classes. “Catering conditions will be adjusted in conjunction with local elected officials to limit mixing as much as possible“, explained the Prime Minister during a press conference on December 6.

Class closures: numbers and protocol

The Ministry of National Education records, as of December 16, 77 schools and 3 colleges closed due to positive coronavirus cases. Since January 3, primary classes no longer close from 3 positive cases for Covid-19. The new health protocol specifies indeed “that within nursery and elementary schools, and as soon as only pupils are admitted justifying a test or a negative self-test every two days, there is no longer any to automatically close the class if three positive cases are identified “.