Omicron Blast in France French authorities have urged people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before the holiday festivities as infections surge and the government tries to avoid another lockdown. “The fifth wave is here and it is here in full force,” Prime Minister Jean Castex told a news conference on Friday, Omicron Blast in France likening the spread of the highly mutated Omicron variant in Europe to “lightning”.
French authorities have urged people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before the holiday festivities as infections surge and the government tries to avoid another lockdown. “The fifth wave is here and it is here in full force,” Prime Minister Jean Castex told a news conference on Friday, likening the spread of the highly mutated Omicron variant in Europe to “lightning”.
“They’re seeing the high number of COVID-19 infections there and particularly the spread of the Omicron variant,” she said. “Even though there are registered cases of Omicron here in France, the government says what they need to do is try to slow down its transmission. And this is just one of the ways they’re trying to do so.”
On Saturday, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said Omicron is now suspected to be responsible for up to 10 percent of new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country. French authorities have also accelerated vaccinations, including a massive push to administer as many booster shoots as possible before families gather for Christmas.
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Health officials narrowed the gap between the second and third shot to four months from the previous five, Castex said. With a daily average of 50,704 infections over the last week and 60,866 on Thursday alone, people said they are not willing to risk their health and take chances on the safety of their loved ones.
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