Covid France: Vaccinations for all adults brought forward to May 31

Covid-19 vaccinations will be open to all adults from May 31, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced yesterday evening (May 20).

It means that any person over 18 will be able to get an appointment from then.

Currently, all people aged 18 to 49 without health issues can only book next-day appointments to be vaccinated with spare doses. This rule will stop being necessary from May 31.

The government had initially planned to open the vaccination to all adults from June 15.

Mr Castex also announced that from Monday (May 24), everyone working in a priority profession will be eligible for a vaccination. This includes teachers, those working in the police, cashiers working in supermarkets, etc.

A full list of priority professions can be found on this government site under the heading “liste de professionnels de 55 ans et plus, bénéficiant de créneaux de vaccination dédiés”

This option was previously only open to those aged 55 and over.

There are four vaccines being used in France, those of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are being administered in vaccination centres. However, from May 28, Moderna’s vaccine will be rolled out in pharmacies, GP practices and nurses clinics participating in the vaccination campaign.

Covid France: Moderna vaccine available at pharmacies from May 28

Neither AstraZeneca’s and Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines are available at vaccination centres, and are only being administered in pharmacies, GP practices and specialised clinics.

They are only being given to patients aged 55 and over, due to an extremely small number of blood clotting issues detected in younger patients receiving these vaccines.

The calendar below shows the progress of vaccinations since they started.

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