France postpones easing of anti-Covid measures amid fifth wave

French President Emmanuel Macron announced postponement of the pre-decided easing of anti-Covid measures, since France is undergoing the fifth wave of the pandemic.

"We are not done with the pandemic yet," he warned in his address to the nation.

Macron said that all barrier gestures that protect people from both Covid-19 and other contagious winter diseases should be given more attention, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We all relaxed a bit our efforts and it was normal. But we should step up again," he said.

He added that the controls of health pass will also be strengthened in the concerned establishments, including airports, ports and train stations.

Furthermore, people over 65 years of age and the most vulnerable ones will have to get a booster dose in order to validate their health pass from December 15.

He reaffirmed the role of the health pass in France's anti-Covid-19 campaign.

"Thanks to the health pass and the strategy implemented since last July, we have managed to control the epidemic," he stated.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign in December 2020, France has injected more than 100 million doses in ten months, and 51 million French are now fully immunized, he said.

Macron urged people to get a booster shot six months after the vaccine. "The solution to this weakened immunity is the injection of an additional dose of vaccine, the booster shot," he said.

As already done for the 65 years old and above, a booster shot campaign will be launched at the beginning of December for people aged between 50 and 64.

The French president also called on the 6 million non-vaccinated to get vaccinated in order to get protected and to "be able to live normally."

"We have done what is necessary to protect ourselves, we can continue to get the situation under control if each of us does our part," he said.

--IANS

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