France opens up last minute Covid vaccinations to all over 18s
France on Tuesday opened up its Covid-19 vaccination programme to allow all over 18s to book an appointment for an injection if there were any spare doses.
From Tuesday anyone over 18, regardless of their medical condition, were eligible to book a vaccine slot as long as there were spare doses.
Up until now the vaccine slots have been reserved for certain age groups and those with underlying medical conditions, but Tuesday marked the first time any member of the public could book an appointment.
On Monday the vaccine programme was opened up to all over 50s in France whilst all over 18s will be able to book normal vaccine slots that are not dependent on spare doses from June 15th.
The move to allow over 18s to take up spare doses and vacant appointment slots was announced last week by President Emmanuel Macron but was launched on Tuesday one day ahead of schedule.
Members of the public can now use the site Doctolib to reserve appointments simply by ticking the Public non-prioritaire box "For over 18s for appointments available between now and tomorrow evening."
"We are delighted to announce the launch of the vaccination booking system for all over 18s, for the appointments that remained free for the following day. We are one day ahead of the schedule set by the president last week," the head of Doctolib Stanislas Niox-Chateau told RMC Radio.
The website Vitemadose, set up by data scientist Guillaume Rozier also has a new function Chronodoses which allows you to search for last minute appointments.
Some 18 million first doses have been injected in France since the vaccination campaign began in December. The government hopes to hit its target of 20 million first doses by May 15th.
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From Tuesday anyone over 18, regardless of their medical condition, were eligible to book a vaccine slot as long as there were spare doses.
Up until now the vaccine slots have been reserved for certain age groups and those with underlying medical conditions, but Tuesday marked the first time any member of the public could book an appointment.
On Monday the vaccine programme was opened up to all over 50s in France whilst all over 18s will be able to book normal vaccine slots that are not dependent on spare doses from June 15th.
The move to allow over 18s to take up spare doses and vacant appointment slots was announced last week by President Emmanuel Macron but was launched on Tuesday one day ahead of schedule.
Members of the public can now use the site Doctolib to reserve appointments simply by ticking the Public non-prioritaire box "For over 18s for appointments available between now and tomorrow evening."
"We are delighted to announce the launch of the vaccination booking system for all over 18s, for the appointments that remained free for the following day. We are one day ahead of the schedule set by the president last week," the head of Doctolib Stanislas Niox-Chateau told RMC Radio.
The website Vitemadose, set up by data scientist Guillaume Rozier also has a new function Chronodoses which allows you to search for last minute appointments.
Some 18 million first doses have been injected in France since the vaccination campaign began in December. The government hopes to hit its target of 20 million first doses by May 15th.
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