France to offer Covid booster shots to elderly, vulnerable from September

PARIS: France will offer Covid booster shots to the elderly and vulnerable from September, joining a growing list of countries offering third vaccine shots to fight new virus variants, President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday.

"Yes, we will probably need a third dose, not for everyone straight away but at any rate for the elderly and the most vulnerable," Macron said in the latest in his series of explanatory videos on the government's vaccination strategy.

He confirmed that the booster shots would be available from September.

Last month he had already revealed plans for a booster campaign, saying it would target those who had been the first to get a jab earlier this year -- mostly people over 80 or with serious health conditions.

Currently, third vaccine shots are only available to people with weakened immune systems.

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Macron's statement comes a day after the World Health Organization called on all nations to halt booster shots until at least the end of September to help ease the drastic inequity in dose distribution between rich and poor nations.

Israel has already begun administering booster shots to over-60s and Germany last week said it too would start offering top-up jabs from September.

France's health ministry said on Tuesday that the exact list of those who would be eligible for a booster shot would be decided next week.