PARIS, Nov 25 (Reuters) - France's medical ethics body and health regulator will examine whether or not children in France aged five to 11 should have the COVID-19 vaccine, health minister Olivier Veran said.

Veran added on Thursday that any vaccination of children in France aged five to 11 would not take place before 2022.

Earlier on Thursday, the European Union's drug regulator approved the use of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for five to 11 year olds, opening the way for them to be given a first shot as the region battles surging infections.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Edmund Blair)