Coronavirus: France plans nationwide COVID-19 vaccinations April-June, says Macron

France is aiming to launch a widespread COVID-19 vaccination campaign between April and June next year, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday.

Early 2021 will see a first vaccination drive targeted at the most fragile and exposed groups, followed by a second campaign for the rest of the population, he told a press briefing at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

French health authorities on Monday reported 4,005 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, sharply down on Sunday’s 9,784 and Saturday’s 12,580.

The number of people in France who have died from COVID-19 infections rose by 406 to 52,731, versus 198 on Sunday. The cumulative number of cases now totals 2,222,488, the fifth-highest tally in the world.

On Tuesday, Pfizer and BioNTech have applied to the European drugs regulator for conditional authorization of their COVID-19 vaccine, following similar steps in the United States and Britain, the companies said.