Nearly one million people in France made vaccination appointments in a single day, as President Emmanuel Macron cranked up pressure on everyone to get jabs to save summer holidays and the economy.
An app that centralises France’s vaccination and other medical appointments, Doctolib, announced on Tuesday morning that 926,000 people had made appointments on Monday, a daily record since the country rolled out coronavirus vaccines in December.
People younger than 35 made up 65% of the new appointments.
Mr Macron announced on Monday that vaccination would be obligatory for all healthcare workers by September 15, and held out the possibility of extending the requirement to other parts of the population.
With infections on the increase again around France, expectations had mounted in recent days that the president would announce some kind of vaccination requirement, driving new demand for appointments.
Some 41% of the French population has been fully vaccinated, though the pace of vaccination waned as summer holidays approached.
Health Minister Olivier Veran welcomed the renewed vaccine interest, telling BFM television on Tuesday: “That’s thousands of lives saved.”
More than 111,000 people have died with Covid-19 in France.
