First In The World, France Allows Former COVID-19 Patients To Receive Vaccines

Vaccine illustration. (Steven Cornfield / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The French government has changed its decision regarding the use of the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca, as well as an expanded policy of vaccine injection.

Health Minister Olivier Véran told France 2 on Monday evening that the AstraZeneca vaccine has now been approved for people aged 65-74 years old with comorbidities.

However, people over 75 years of age will continue to receive Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, as reported by Euronews.

In early February, France ruled out the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in people over the age of 65 citing inadequate clinical trials for the elderly.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is prioritized for health workers and people aged between 50 and 64 years with comorbidities.

"Starting today (Monday) HAS (French Supreme Health Authority) considers that all vaccines owned by France, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Moderna are very effective", said Veran.

In addition, France will also become the first country in the world to allow former COVID-19 patients to receive one dose of the vaccine according to HAS recommendations.

HAS said that people who have recovered from COVID-19 maintain immune memory. And, a single dose given acts as a booster. The time span is between 3-6 months after being declared cured.

"Just for this month, we hope to offer the first vaccinations to 6 million French people", he said which would result in a total of 9 million people being vaccinated since the start of the campaign.