France to start vaccinating people aged over 55 on Monday: Health Minister

"The AstraZeneca vaccine is currently intended only for people over 55 with underlying diseases. Starting from Monday, all French people over 55 will be able to get a vaccine without any conditions. We are expanding the vaccination campaign!" Veran said.

The minister explained that this would become possible thanks to the news that the 20,000-dose-batch of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be delivered to France on Monday - a week earlier than expected. According to Veran, these 20,000 doses will be administered very soon.

According to Veran, starting from April 14, France will extend the interval between the first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccines Pfizer and Moderna based on messenger ribonucleic acid from four to six weeks in order to accelerate the pace of vaccination.

He noted that the average age of vaccinated people is falling, and the immunity level of people under 70 years old is sufficient to make the interval between the two injections longer without jeopardizing their health.

Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the pace of the COVID-19 vaccination in the country would be accelerated. The French authorities plan to fully vaccinate 10 million nationals by April 15.

France's nationwide immunization campaign began in late December 2020. To date, over 10 million people have received the first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, and about 3.5 million citizens have received two.