French govt announces autumn booster shot plan for ‘people at risk’ as Covid cases soar again

The French government has unveiled plans to provide a third shot to people considered most at risk from Covid-19 as cases and hospitalizations continue to rise across the country.

In a news conference on Wednesday, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said that the campaign for the third Covid-19 shots would begin in mid-September, with citizens able to book their jabs in late August.

Attal said the program would target the “population at risk” but did not elaborate further. Earlier in the month, France’s Ministry of Health told BFMTV that populations at risk meant “people over 80 years” and those “at very high risk of developing a severe form” of Covid-19.

Attal also announced that Covid-19 tests would no longer be free from mid-October. Citizens without a prescription will be required to pay to check their Covid-19 status. 

With cases on the rise in France, the government has also elected to further extend the use of the controversial health pass. In regions where the infection rate exceeds 200 cases per 100,000 people, Attal said the health pass would also be required to enter shopping centers and masks would once again be mandated in public establishments.

Repeating an earlier warning from President Emmanuel Macron, Attal said there was little sign of Covid infections receding in France: “The level of virus circulation is high.”

Speaking earlier on Wednesday during a meeting of the Health Defense Council, Macron spoke of the “more than delicate health situation” caused by the increasingly prevalent Delta variant.

With 9,200 Covid-19 hospitalizations at the start of the week – the highest since June – the president urged everyone who can be vaccinated to get the shot.

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