Paris (AFP)

Emmanuel Macron assured Tuesday on TF1 that "all French adults who wish" will be offered a vaccine "by the end of the summer", ie by September 22.

He also estimated that, "at the beginning of March", the 80% of nursing home residents who wished, or 500,000 people, will have been vaccinated, ensuring that the vaccination campaign "is taking place at the rate which was planned".

Regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Head of State specified that the State would "obviously" follow the recommendation of the High Authority of Health to reserve it for those under 65 years of age.

It will probably first be used for caregivers under 60 and then "offered by age groups", starting with the oldest, he added.

"But we will not offer it to over 65s," he insisted.

The president acknowledged that the pace "may seem too slow" compared to other countries "which had made other bets or which are also countries which, like the United Kingdom, are islands".

"But I am defending the strategy that we have adopted with Germany, with the European Union, which is precisely to vaccinate in Europe".

France has "exactly the same pace, the same solution as our German neighbors and our other European neighbors," he said.

When the Russian vaccine Sputnik-V, which the scientific journal Lancet has confirmed the effectiveness, he explained that it would be used if the health authorities validate it.

"We have seen publications today which seem to indicate a very strong efficacy of the Sputnik vaccine, but we cannot distribute it in France until the Russian producer has submitted an application for marketing authorization."

"The minute he asks for it, European and national health authorities will examine it, he promised." And, depending on his results and the evidence "that it is effective, France will decide whether or not to use it. "It's not a political decision, it's a scientific decision, and fortunately."

He also explained that the European Union had secured 2.3 billion doses of vaccines for the moment, which makes it possible to guarantee this general vaccination of the French by the end of the summer.

© 2021 AFP