On Christmas Eve, the French National Authority for Health gave the green light to the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine.

The first vaccinations will therefore begin on Sunday in two hospitals in France.

Emmanuel Macron, who no longer has symptoms of Covid-19, ended his isolation in La Lanterne on Thursday.

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While millions of French families have spent a funny Christmas Eve, the Covid-19 crisis requires, the High Authority of Health has just given the green light to the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, a few days before the start of vaccination in France .

The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, who no longer shows symptoms, came out of his isolation on Thursday after testing positive for Covid-19 last week.

France still recorded more than 21,000 positive cases for Covid-19 on Thursday, with 62,268 dead since the start of the epidemic.

Information to remember:

  • The High Authority for Health has given the green light to the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine

  • Emmanuel Macron came out of isolation at La Lanterne

  • More than 21,000 new cases were recorded in 24 hours

62,268 dead in France, the number of new cases remains high

France has recorded 21,634 new cases of contamination in the past 24 hours but the positivity rate is declining, according to figures from health authorities released Thursday.

The number of new daily cases hovered between 12,000 and 18,000 last week.

It was 14,929 Wednesday and 11,795 Tuesday. 

The positivity rate, which measures the percentage of people positive for Covid-19 out of all those tested, was 3.8% on Thursday, after 4.3% on Wednesday and 4.4% on Tuesday.

This key indicator stood at 6.4% on December 8, when a new accounting method was introduced.

The number of cases detected has been high in recent days, due in particular to a rush on tests before the family reunion at the end of the year.

Last week (latest data available), some 2.35 million tests were carried out, up more than 50% from the previous week, said Thursday the Drees, the statistical service of social ministries.

The Covid-19 has killed 292 people in hospitals in the past 24 hours (after 278 Wednesday) bringing the total death toll to 62,268 (including 43,073 in hospital) since the start of the pandemic, according to Public Health France.

Green light from the High Health Authority for Pfizer vaccine

It was an expected agreement: the High Authority for Health gave the green light for the use of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in France.

This "can be used in people 16 years of age and over", "because of its effectiveness and its satisfactory tolerance profile," said the High Authority for Health (HAS) on Thursday.

The "prioritization strategy" already announced (starting with the populations most at risk of severe form and those most exposed to the risk of infection) remains valid for this vaccine, called Comirnaty, adds the opinion of the health authority, which is the last regulatory step before the start of the vaccination campaign on Sunday.

"We confirm that this first vaccine has a place in the vaccine strategy, in terms of both its efficacy and its safety profile, which is excellent news", declared the president of HAS, Dominique Le Guludec, at course of an online press briefing.

This advice is the last regulatory step before the start of the vaccination campaign.

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The first vaccinations on Sunday 

The first doses of the vaccine designed by the Pfizer and BioNTech laboratories will arrive in France on Saturday.

For the moment, it is only "a few dozen" of patients who will receive their injection on Sunday, specified the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran.

The vaccination campaign will follow a "prioritization strategy" to inject the anti-Covid vaccine to frail people in the first place. 

Two establishments were chosen: the long-term care unit of the René-Muret hospital (AP-HP) in Sevran, in Seine-Saint-Denis, and the geriatric center of Champmaillot, which depends on the Dijon CHU.

On the other hand, there will be no third establishment concerned from Sunday, contrary to what had been envisaged.

Macron is no longer at La Lanterne, Castex deconfined

Emmanuel Macron, who no longer shows symptoms, will not spend Christmas at La Lanterne, the Versailles residence in which he had isolated himself after testing positive for Covid-19 last week.

Prime Minister Jean Castex and the President of the National Assembly Richard Ferrand, both contact cases of Emmanuel Macron, ended their period of isolation on Wednesday after having tested negative for Covid-19.

"Contact case of the President of the Republic, showing no symptoms, and after respecting a period of isolation of 7 days as recommended by the health authorities, the Prime Minister carried out a PCR test on Wednesday morning. This test being negative, this period of isolation therefore ends ", announced Matignon.

More than 1.73 million deaths worldwide

The pandemic has killed at least 1.73 million people worldwide since the end of December, according to an assessment established by AFP from official sources Thursday morning.

More than 78.6 million cases of contamination have been officially diagnosed.

The United States remains the most bereaved country with 326,232 dead, followed by Brazil (189,220 dead), India (146,756), Mexico (120,311) and Italy (70,395).