10m French have received COVID-19 booster shots: minister

PARIS - French Health Minister Olivier Veran announced Saturday on his social media that 10 million French citizens have received their COVID-19 vaccine booster doses.

As the government previously announced that starting on Jan. 15, the third vaccine dose will be a condition for the renewal of the health pass, the minister assured that "new appointments will continue to open every day so that all eligible people can have their booster on time."

According to the health ministry, 52,083,228 people in France have received at least one vaccine dose.

France has approved the use of vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.

In September, the government announced that people who have received two doses of China's Sinovac or Sinopharm vaccines would be eligible to get their health pass after the administration of a complementary dose of a messenger (mRNA) vaccine.

On Saturday, France reported 51,624 new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span.