France passes the milestone of 40 million first-time vaccines

Published on : 07/26/2021 – 11:48

The French vaccine campaign reached a new milestone, Monday July 26, by exceeding the threshold of 40 million people first-time vaccinated, announced the French president. “40 million French people have received at least one dose of vaccine, or nearly 60% of the population (+ 4 million in fifteen days) “, wrote in a tweet Emmanuel Macron, who is currently in French Polynesia. “It is all together that we will defeat the virus. We continue!”, He stressed.

The government, which is counting in particular on strengthening vaccination to try to stem the resurgence of the Covid-19 epidemic in France under the effect of the Delta variant, is now targeting the objective of 50 million first-time vaccinated end of August.

According to the latest official report, 49.3% of the French population is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, i.e. vaccination coverage well below the level required to achieve collective immunity. In an opinion of the Scientific Council, this proportion is estimated at 95%.

This milestone is reached a few hours after the adoption by parliament of the bill providing for the controversial extension of the health pass and the vaccination obligation for caregivers, which Emmanuel Macron announced on July 12 to deal with the “fourth wave “of the epidemic linked to the progression of the Delta variant.

From Polynesia, Emmanuel Macron had launched this weekend “a very strong message to call each and everyone to be vaccinated” to protect themselves and others. He also blasted “irresponsibility” and “selfishness” of those who refuse to be vaccinated, after new demonstrations by opponents on Saturday.

According to key figures communicated on Sunday by Public Health France, the health situation remains generally stable despite the skyrocketing cases of contamination for about two weeks (16,167 new cases on Sunday). Hospitals had 6,843 Covid-19 patients with 92 new 24-hour admissions, of which 886 are in critical care units. Since the start of the pandemic, 111,644 deaths have been recorded in France.

With AFP and Reuters