France to start medical staff vaccination of 6 Feb

French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Thursday that the first delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccines will arrive in France at the end of the week and that hospital staff under 65 will start being vaccinated from Saturday. France decided to only administer the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to people under 65, President Emmanuel Macron said earlier this week after the government's health advisory body cited a lack of sufficient data about its effectiveness in older people.

The decision could shake up the French vaccination strategy because the country has prioritized nursing home residents and people over 75. France had counted on the AstraZeneca vaccine for a large part of its upcoming inoculations, until the company announced delays affecting countries around Europe and the world. Castex also said that the country remains in a particularly fragile situation with an average of 20,000 new COVID-19 cases per day. But the Prime Minster added that, at this stage, the government was not planning an imminent new lockdown.