The French High Authority of Health has recommended reducing the spacing between the primary vaccination and the booster dose to 3 months. As of today, boosters are now possible as early as 4 months after the last injection or infection. In addition the HAS recommended administering a booster to adolescents aged 12 to 17 who are most at risk.
French Health Minister Olivier Veran said this morning that 100,000 vaccination appointments remained available for today and one million additional appointments will open for the coming week.
Olivier Veran said last night that the rules governing the isolation period for contact cases would probably change. However, he said that he could not give the number of days of isolation, it "will obviously evolve".
The Council of Ministers of the French government is scheduled to hold an extraordinary meeting on Monday to discuss proposed legislation introducing a vaccine pass to replace the current health pass. Testing would not be a route to obtaining a pass under the legislaton which is expected to be debated by a committee of the National Assembly on Wednesday, followed by the Senate.
Train traffic between St Raphael and Cannes was disrupted this morning after an apparent suicide at Mandelieu-la-Napoule station. A 60 year old woman is believed to have thrown herself in front of a passing train at about 9am.
BUSINESS
Department store chain Selfridges is being sold to a Thai retailer and an Austrian property firm. The deal for the majority of the Selfridges Group is reportedly worth around £4bn. The Weston family from Canada acquired Selfridges in 2003. Selfridges Group owns 25 stores worldwide and the new owners will take over 18 of the 25 stores. Selfridge's seven Holt Renfrew department stores in Canada were not part of the deal and will remain in the ownership of the Weston family.
Consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser is selling it's E45 brand for 200 million pounds. It's being acquired by Swedish group Karo Pharma.
SPORT
Football... Everton's scheduled Boxing Day match at Burnley has been postponed because of injuries and positive COVID-19 cases in Everton's First-Team squad. The move follows the postponement of the matches between Liverpool and Leeds United and Watford and Wolves which had also been scheduled to take place on Sunday.
Cricket... Ireland have beaten the USA by nine runs to draw their T20 series in Florida. The teams will now play three one-day international matches, starting on Sunday
