News Digest: Vaccinations Update

According to the latest report from Santé Public France, France has now registered a total of 105,130 Covid-19-related deaths. There were 311 additional deaths reported in the 24 hours to Monday, and a total of 5,630 serious cases in intensive care.

The total number of confirmed cases now stands at 5,656,007, an increase of 3,760 in 24 hours.

The number of deaths in nursing homes and residential care facilities is 26,253 in total, while the total number of deaths in hospitals is 78,877.

The reproducibility rate R is 0.89 and the incidence rate is 245.22. The positivity rate is 5.3%.

Here are the latest case numbers and number of deaths in 24 hours, by region:

• Ile-de-France: 7,507 (-28) hospitalised, 1,689 (-4) in intensive care and 76 deaths in 24h
• Grand Est: 2,467 (+33) hospitalised, 476 (+6) in intensive care and +24 deaths in 24h
• Hauts de France: 3,351 (+33) hospitalised, 661 (+5) in intensive care and +44 deaths in 24h
• Auvergne Rhône Alpes: 3,460 (+27) hospitalised, 654 (+23) in intensive care and +35 deaths in 24h
• Provence-Alpes Côte d’Azur: 2.888 (-19) hospitalised, 502 (+1) in intensive care and +35 deaths in 24h
• Brittany: 835 (+17) hospitalised, 104 (+5) in intensive care and +10 deaths in 24h
• Normandy: 1,467 (+8) hospitalised, 221 (+1) in intensive care and +15 deaths in 24h
• Nouvelle-Aquitaine: 1,428 (+20) hospitalised, 295 (+12) in intensive care and +16 deaths in 24h
• Pays de la Loire: 915 (-6) hospitalised, 148 (-7) in intensive care and +10 deaths in 24h
• Occitanie: 1,767 (-1) hospitalised, 368 (+4) in intensive care and +14 deaths in 24h
• Centre-Val de Loire: 1,008 (+18) hospitalised, 196 (0) in intensive care and +15 deaths in 24h
• Bourgogne-Franche-Comté: 1.281 (+23) hospitalised, 188 (+2) in intensive care and +13 deaths in 24h

Vaccinations update

As of Sunday, 15,873,161 people in France (23.69% of the population) had received their first vaccination dose, with 6,869,427 of them also having received their second jab (10.25% of the population). By comparison, over 14 million in the UK have already received both jabs.

Last Friday, French Health Minister Olivier Véran announced that vaccinations will now be open to all adults over 18 years of age with certain health conditions including hypertension, diabetes, kidney failure, heart failure or cancer. This applies only to the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines – currently, only the over-55s can get the AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

The move comes after the government received more criticism over the slow vaccination rollout. Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris, said on Franceinfo: “I believe that the age question must be let go, because it is still a scandal that doses are not used when there are many people who wish to be vaccinated.”

Post-lockdown schedule announced

As of yesterday, May 3, while the 7pm curfew still remains, you can travel as far as you wish, for any reason and using any mode of transport, without the need for an official form (attestation).

People are still being asked to work from home (télé-travail) where possible, and gatherings remain limited to six people, as do social distancing and mask-wearing.

Wednesday May 19 is next big date in the deconfinement schedule, mapped out by President Macron last week. This is when non-essential businesses will be allowed to reopen. Restaurants and cafés will be able to serve on terraces, with a maximum of six people per table, while – finally – museums, theatres, cinemas and sport facilities will also reopen (the latter with limits of 800 people indoors and 1,000 outdoors).

The evening curfew will change from 7pm to 9pm.

On June 9, foreign tourists will once more be able to enter France provided they have a certificate of vaccination or a PCR test. The curfew will also be extended to 11pm and restaurants will be allowed to serve indoors – though still with groups at one table and of no more than six people.

June 30 is the final date for your post-lockdown calendar – dependant entirely upon regional health situations, the night-time curfew will be lifted completely. Criteria for this are: if the incidence rate (Covid-19 positive cases per 100,000) exceeds 400; if the incidence rate suddenly surges; or if intensive care units become full up.

Mask-wearing to end this summer?

Speaking on Europe 1 this morning, Mr Véran hinted that the obligation to wear a mask outside could be lifted sometime this summer, although he did not commit to a date.

“I hope it will be this summer,” he said, adding that it all depends on vaccination levels. “What we know for sure is that vaccination protects against serious forms of the disease, and what we believe very strongly is that it protects against the risks of contamination and therefore the spread of the virus and the risk of an epidemic. So when enough French people have been vaccinated, we can lower our guard”.

“When the date that will allow us to serenely consider the end of barrier measures – and to remove the mask – arrives, we will not wait 24 hours. We will say so immediately. And I sincerely hope it will be this summer,” he explained.