PARIS: People in France could start receiving the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech in the last week of December if European Union authorities approve it next week, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Wednesday.

Castex told parliament that the vaccine campaign in France would then be stepped up in January, with the elderly and other more vulnerable groups coming first in the queue.

France, which like many European countries has been battling a resurgence of the pandemic in recent weeks, has already pre-ordered 200 million doses of COVID vaccines, Castex added.

France is hoping to administer COVID vaccines to around one million people in nursing homes during January and February, and then a further 14-15 million people in the wider population between March and June.

A senior European Commission official said on Wednesday the EU could give its final approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as early as Dec. 23.