Alain Fischer, coordinator of France's COVID-19 vaccination campaign, said here on Monday that the country could reach herd immunity against COVID-19 by this autumn, calling on the still reluctant segments of the French population to get vaccinated to help cope with highly transmissible Delta variant, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
In an interview with RTL radio, Fisher noted that "vaccination is progressing very quickly these days," making it possible to reach herd immunity by autumn.
"The Delta variant is highly contagious and it requires an energetic vaccination campaign to achieve herd immunity," he said.
Herd immunity is achieved when 90 percent of the population over 12 years of age is vaccinated or protected because they have been infected.
To date, France has fully inoculated more than 35 million citizens out of around 67 million, according to the Health Ministry.
To counter a sharp spike in COVID-19 infections, the French government has decided to make vaccination mandatory for health workers and impose the use of the "health pass" at a wider range of public places, including restaurants and cafes, shopping centers, gyms and even hospitals except for emergencies.
As of Aug. 1, France counted 6.14 million COVID-19 cases with 19,600 new infections reported in one day, the health authorities said.
Coronavirus-related hospitalizations continued to increase. On Monday, 7,581 people were hospitalized, 1,137 of them in intensive care.