PARIS (AP) – France on Thursday unveiled a plan to administer COVID-19 booster vaccines to all adults, rather than tightening restrictions or imposing a curfew to combat a disturbing rise in infections in the country.
Infections have skyrocketed in France in recent days, with new daily cases surpassing the 30,000 mark, while virus-related hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise again.
French Health Minister Olivier Veran unveiled the plans during a press conference in which he announced the reduction of the interval between the second and third doses of the vaccine from six to five months. He said France already has enough vaccines to launch the booster dose campaign nationwide.
Veran also presented a series of measures, such as the tightening of the requirement to wear masks in public spaces and noted that the COVID pass, which is required in many closed places across the country, will cease to be valid if a person has not received a vaccine. booster within seven months of your second dose.
He pointed out that there are currently 10 times more unvaccinated people hospitalized because of the virus than those who are inoculated, and added that without the vaccine the country would already be in confinement.
More than 89% of adults in France are vaccinated, but the most vulnerable received a dose at the beginning of the year and therefore immunity is believed to have waned. Also, children under 12 have not yet had access to vaccines in France, although that could change after the European Medicines Agency authorized on Thursday the application of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer for children aged 5. and 11 years.
In a sign of concern about the coronavirus situation in French territory, Morocco suspended all flights to and from France as of Friday until further notice.
A Moroccan government committee that oversees travel amid the pandemic made the decision on Thursday “to protect Morocco’s achievements in handling the pandemic,” according to the state news agency MAP. The two countries maintain close economic and cultural ties.
– .
