PM: 1 in 5 adults in France vaccinated

One in five adults in France is now vaccinated against COVID-19, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Thursday, on reaching the objective of 10 million vaccinations.

"We reached this objective one week in advance thanks to the mobilization of health workers. France is vaccinating in a big way," he said during a visit to a vaccine center.

At least 437,000 vaccinations, a record high in 24 hours, were carried out across the country. A total of 10,114,284 people have received at least one injection and 3,484,006 have received both doses since the start of the campaign on Dec. 27 last year.

France is aiming for a strategy of an accelerated vaccine campaign plus restrictive health measures to overcome the current crisis, dubbed as the third wave of the pandemic. A limited lockdown has been enforced from April 3 for four weeks, including the closure of nurseries, primary and high schools and non-essential commercial shops and establishments and a curfew from 7.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m.

To prevent the surge, authorities have also strengthened travel restrictions, preventing people from commuting to other departments, prohibiting outdoor gatherings of more than six people and banning the consumption of alcohol.

Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said the restrictive measures seem to be working as there were "first encouraging signals'' in the 16 departments where a weekend lockdown was imposed last month. Elsewhere, however, the situation continues to remain worrying and serious, he said during the weekly press conference following the meeting of the health defense council and the council of ministers.

Around 345 more people succumbed to the virus in hospitals. Overall, 30,555 people are admitted in hospital and 5,700 patients remain in intensive care units, according to the latest health data.