Booster shots may become a requirement for a valid health pass in France. (Representative)
Paris:
France is set to announce that COVID-19 booster shots will be made available to all adults, along with stricter rules for wearing face masks and health pass checks to prevent a new wave of infections, two Parliamentary sources confirmed to Reuters on Thursday.
Health Minister Olivier Veran is scheduled to hold a press conference in the afternoon on Thursday.
France’s Haute Autorité de Sante (HAS) health regulator said it was supporting booster COVID vaccination shots for people 18 years of age and older, and the interim period between full vaccination and booster shots to six instead of six. Should be shortened to five months.
The HAS noted a renewed spread of the coronavirus that was “stronger than anticipated”, and that an ‘R’ reproduction rate of 1.35 indicated an “exponential increase” of infections.
On Wednesday, health officials reported more than 30,000 new infections for the second day in a row, a sequence unseen since late April.
The seven-day moving average of daily new cases – which also equates to reporting irregularities – is at a three-month high of 21,761 and has nearly quadrupled in a month.
The number of people treated in intensive care for COVID-19 is about 1,500, last seen in late September.
President Emmanuel Macron’s government said on Wednesday it would focus on stricter social distancing rules and a faster booster shot program and wanted to avoid reimposing lockdowns as some other European countries have done.
The PCR test for non-vaccinated will only be valid for one day – instead of 72 hours at present – and may be recommended to work from home when possible.
Booster shots will become a requirement for a valid health pass, which is required to enter restaurants, cafes, cinemas and museums, among other public places in France.
According to data available on the website of the Ministry of Health, France has more than 30 million vaccines in stock.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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