The Covid vaccination obligation, introduced at the height of the health crisis, will be lifted for caregivers and other medical staff in France, where the government on Thursday pledged to follow recommendations in this direction by the High Authority for Health (HAS), Agerpres reports.

Coronavirus in FrancePhoto: Bardos Florent/ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia

France is thus preparing to join many other countries that have returned to mandatory Covid vaccinations, such as Germany, Italy, the US and Australia. Other countries, such as Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal, have never resorted to this measure.

Valid for 18 months, mandatory vaccination against Covid is coming to an end. In fact, the HAS has revised its doctrine and now offers the vaccine to be “strongly recommended” to interested professionals.

The change is justified by the more favorable dynamics of the epidemic. “The number of new cases has clearly decreased,” and “new variants whose virulence is less important” have appeared, infectious disease specialist Elizabeth Bouvet explained at the press conference.

In this context, and given that “more than 95% of medical personnel” have received at least two doses of the vaccine, the commitment “is no longer necessary from a scientific and medical point of view,” she added. Health Minister Francois Brown promised to quickly implement this recommendation.