Half of France's adult population get first COVID-19 vaccine dose

PARIS - Half of France's adult population have received the first COVID-19 vaccine shot as the inoculation program continues at a faster pace and indicators point to improved sanitary situation, official figures showed on Wednesday.

More than 26.58 million people aged 18 or older have had one jab, representing 50.6 percent of the adult population. Some 11.45 million people, or 21.8 percent of the adult population, have been fully vaccinated, according to data from the Health Ministry.

France, which extended its vaccine rollout to all adults on Monday, would allow teens aged 12 to 18 to get a COVID-19 vaccine jab from mid-June, President Emmanuel Macron announced earlier in the day, marking another milestone in the country's vaccination campaign.

Macron added that the country's health authority will specify the conditions to vaccinate teenagers in the coming days.

In a bid to return to prior-epidemic daily life, the French government has vowed to go all out on vaccine rollout to bring down the coronavirus-linked infections and deaths, and contain the spread of new strains which could trigger another wave.

On June 9, France will enter a new stage in easing pandemic restrictions. Gyms will resume activities and foreign tourists will enter the country with a health pass.

The nightly curfew will be pushed back by two hours to 11 pm before being removed later this month. All the restrictive rules to contain the virus will be lifted at the end of June.

"We must be very vigilant because in many of our neighbors the new variants are increasing the number of cases," the president said during a visit to the Lot region in southwestern France.

"It's necessary to have reasonable optimism ... to remain vigilant, to respect the rules and to maintain vigilance till the end to avoid that the virus circulates again," he added.

France on Wednesday reported 8,743 new cases in the past 24 hours, down from 9,848 on Tuesday. The country's cumulative number of infections now stands at 5.68 million, health authorities data indicated.

There were 2,754 people with COVID-19 in intensive care units, down by 71 from the day before. The overall number of those hospitalized also fell to 15,638 from 16,088 the day before.

The total number of coronavirus-related fatalities is 109,787, with 96 new deaths in hospitals confirmed in one day, down from Tuesday's 127.