A customer walks past a sign indicating a COVID-19 vaccination center inside a shopping mall in Levallois-Perret near Paris, France, Nov. 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
The authority recommends combining the COVID-19 and flu vaccination campaign this autumn.
PARIS, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The French National Authority for Health (HAS) on Wednesday published its COVID-19 vaccination strategy for this autumn targeting people at risk of developing serious illness.
In a press release, the HAS said it was considering a periodic recurrence of viral infections.
Immunocompromised patients, people over the age of 65 and those with comorbidities are especially at risk of developing severe outcomes of COVID-19, the HAS said.
A child receives a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Antibes, France, on Dec. 23, 2021. (Photo by Serge Haouzi/Xinhua)
The HAS will specify the type of vaccine to be administered depending on the patients' medical condition and on the availability of authorized vaccines.
The authority recommends combining the COVID-19 and flu vaccination campaign this autumn.
According to the HAS, France should prepare for the pessimistic scenario, in which a more virulent variant of COVID-19 could emerge and should be ready to conduct a large-scale vaccination campaign on short notice.
A nurse prepares the COVID-19 vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination center at the National Velodrome de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, on March 24, 2021. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)
It also recommends continuing the vaccination campaign to reach the unvaccinated and those who have not received their booster shot.
According to the HAS, 79.7 percent of France's population is fully vaccinated, and 81 percent have received their first vaccine dose. ■
