In the vaccination schedule for 2023, health authorities on Wednesday recommended a new vaccine for infants, against the virus that causes gastroenteritis. "Rotavirus vaccination is now recommended for all infants," the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

This announcement implements a recommendation made last summer by the High Authority for Health (HAS) in favor of vaccinating toddlers against rotavirus infections, the main culprits of acute winter viral gastroenteritis. This applies to infants from six weeks to six months.


📅 The calendar of #vaccinations 2023 is now available!

🗞 Read the press release: https://t.co/eQACvEOG9L
🔎 Read the #calendrier: https://t.co/RmBMInzt8L pic.twitter.com/dwF04nlb7a

— Ministry of Health and Prevention (@Sante_Gouv) April 12, 2023

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Efficacy and good tolerability of the vaccine

This vaccination had already been recommended in the early 2010s but the measure was suspended in 2015 after the occurrence of serious adverse events. However, after re-evaluating the latest data, the HAS had concluded that the vaccine was effective and tolerable, stressing that no safety "signal" had been seen for years.

Another novelty, the health authorities recommend "that vaccination against seasonal influenza be integrated into the vaccination schedule to be offered each year to children without comorbidities aged 2 to 17 years, without making it mandatory". The ministry also recommends that girls and boys between the ages of 11 and 14 get vaccinated against HPV. These infections are responsible for more than 6,000 cancers each year, including uterine cancer. In February, the state announced a widespread vaccination campaign in middle schools.

Eleven mandatory vaccines

Eleven vaccines remain mandatory in the first 18 months of the child. A single product immunizes children against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, Haemophilus influenzae type b infections and hepatitis B. Vaccination is given in two injections in infants, at two months and four months, followed by a booster at 11 months of age. The vaccination schedule is the same for pneumococcal infections.



Vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella is done at 12 months with a first injection, followed by a second between 16 and 18 months. Finally, to combat invasive meningococcal infections (mainly meningitis), one dose of vaccine is recommended for infants five months of age and 12 months of age. A twelfth mandatory vaccine is added to this list, only for residents of Guyana, with an injection against yellow fever, to be done from 12 months.

  • Health
  • Vaccine
  • Gastroenteritis
  • Infant
  • Baby
  • Illness