France to start administering 4th Covid vax dose

Paris, March 13 From Monday onwards, France will start administering a fourth Covid-19 vaccine dose to people over 80 years old who have received their booster shot, Prime Minister Jean Castex said.

The vaccination campaign will also be extended to people having an immunocompromised system who were not eligible for the vaccine until now, Xinhua news agency quoted Castex as saying to the Le Parisien newspaper.

Of France's 4.1 million people over the age of 80, 3.1 million have already had the booster shot, it said.

France is witnessing a rebound of Covid-19 cases.

In the past 24 hours, the National Health Agency reported 72,443 new cases, taking the overall infection tally to 23,565,274.

The country's death toll stood at 141,054.

Also on Monday, France will lift the vaccine pass requirement before entering public spaces, as well as the indoor mask mandate.

Despite the easing of restrictions, the Prime Minister said that he strongly recommended fragile people keep the mask on in indoor and crowded areas.