Since the start of the pandemic, Santé publique France has made data from its surveillance systems available to the public: cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, deaths, vaccination coverage, variants, and mutations. These indicators are broken down by population and region and provide the basis for the strategy to combat the pandemic.

The following are available as open data:

• vaccination coverage data for those under 18

• new indicators related to screening for the three variants of interest (E484K, E484Q, and L452R), in accordance with what was announced at the time of the change in screening strategy

Vaccination coverage for those under 18

On June 15, 2021, a new milestone in the vaccination campaign was reached with the expansion of vaccination to adolescents aged 12 to 17 inclusive. Two weeks later, Santé publique France published open-data on vaccination coverage among those under 18, broken down by the following age groups: 0–4 years, 5–9 years, 10–11 years, and 12–17 years.

The vaccinations observed among children under 12 likely correspond to children at very high risk of severe COVID-19.

The vaccination coverage indicators published on the Géodes platform pertain to vaccinations with at least one dose and fully vaccinated individuals, administered with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the only one currently authorized for minors by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Five new indicators for variants of interest

Since May 31, 2021, the screening strategy has evolved to detect certain mutations of interest that may be found in various variants. This allows for monitoring the evolution over time and across the country of the proportion of infections caused by a virus carrying these mutations. The E484K, E484Q, and L452R mutations were selected because they are potentially linked to immune escape and/or increased transmissibility and are found in the majority of VOCs to date.

Current knowledge regarding the E484K, E484Q, and L452R mutations or the variants carrying them as of June 30, 2021

* Sequences submitted by the United Kingdom account for approximately 60% of all SARS-CoV-2 sequences submitted to GISAID internationally during the period June 1–28, 2021. To avoid bias in the interpretation of global data, UK sequences were excluded from the analysis for this period.

Before publishing these data as open data, Santé publique France ensured the effective ramp-up of the new screening kits, the quality and completeness of the data, and the production and organization of the sharing of all new indicators.

The availability of these new, reliable, and expert-reviewed indicators helps ensure that the public is well-informed and supports the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.