“The HAS suggests that all parents who want it can have their children aged five to 11 years vaccinated”, said Lise Alter, one of the doctors charged with the risk evaluation of new drugs.

She added that the vaccine, which will be administered in a paediatric formulation when it becomes widely available, showed high efficacy among children.

Last week France started vaccinating children with medical conditions that require special protection and ramped up logistics to roll out vaccination of all children in the age group once the HAS approves the move.

French President Emmanuel Macron said last week that he was in favour of vaccinating children but added that this needed to remain the decision of parents.