He said: “The Haute Autorite de Sante now considers as of today that all three vaccines that we have in France have a remarkable efficacy to protect people against the risk of severe forms of COVID-19.
“As a result, I can announce that from now on people aged 50 and above who have comorbidities such as diabetes, high blood pressure or a history of cancer can be vaccinated with AstraZeneca, including those aged 65 to 74.”
French regulators previously recommended that the Anglo-Swedish firm’s jab be given to people aged 50 to 64 with pre-existing medical conditions.
The country will continue to use the BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for those over 75.
| UPDATED: 17:51, Mon, Mar 1, 2021
Link copied
Brazilian coronavirus variant is a concern to UK says expert Sign up to receive our rundown of the day s top stories direct to your inbox
SUBSCRIBE Invalid email
When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.
A variant of coronavirus originally detected in Brazil has been found in the UK. Officials are scrambling to locate the first people believed to have contracted the virus whilst in the UK. The variant, known as P1, has been listed as a “variant of concern”. While only six cases have been detected in the UK so far, there is concern the variant could potentially not be as responsive to current vaccines as other variants of coronavirus. Three cases have been located in England
Trending
Ms Harries said: One of the things we know, of course, is doing things outside is ever so much safer than doing things inside - ventilation, we know, is really important. As we get into the autumn, when winter comes in and we spend more time inside, then again we may be looking at it. But it s quite possible over summer months, as we did last year when we see rates drop, that we would not need to be wearing masks all that time. Summer period is generally, we think, a much safer period for us with less need for interventions, but I think that doesn t rule it out as we go into winter periods again.
Governor Gavin Newsom confirms that cases are falling across California. He points to a month ago when there were 20,000 new COVID cases reported. On Sunday, there were 6,760.