Paris Begins COVID-19 Vaccinations; Confirmed Virus Variant in Tours

After the European Medicines Agency's granting and its validation by the European Commission of a conditional marketing authorization for the experimental Comirnaty mRNA vaccine (BNT162b2), France's first vaccine doses were delivered on December 26, 2020, to the Paris hospital system's central pharmacy outside the capital. A refrigerated truck brought the roughly 19,500 doses from a Pfizer factory near Belgium to Paris, reported theLocal.

Large-scale inoculations for residents and staff in France's 7,000 elderly care homes will begin in early 2021.

Previously, on December 25th, the French Health Ministry announced a citizen who recently arrived in France from London had tested positive for the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The Health Ministry also confirmed the first case had been found in the city of Tours, located in central France, reported Reuters.

Additionally, France announced the limited resumption of travel from the United Kingdom to France, subject to negative health tests sensitive to the virus variant.