France will lengthen the period between the first and second shots of mRNA anti-coronavirus vaccines to six weeks from four weeks as of April 14 to accelerate the inoculation campaign, Health Minister Olivier Veran told the JDD newspaper on Sunday, Reuters reports.

Although France’s top health authority advised a six-week period between the two shots in January in order to stretch supplies, the government at the time said there was insufficient data on how well the vaccines performed with a longer interval.

France could safely do so now because it was vaccinating a younger age group, Veran said.

“(It) will allow us to vaccinate more quickly without reducing protection,” the minister told the paper.

France has approved use of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines.

Veran also said that from Monday the AstraZeneca vaccine would be made available to all over-55s and not just those with serious pre-existing conditions.

After a glacial start, France’s vaccine rollout is hitting its stride, reaching a target of 10 million first doses a week ahead of a mid-April target. The government aims to deliver another ten million first shots by mid-May.

Johnson & Johnson would deliver its first 200,000 doses destined for France on Monday, a week early, Veran said.

People wait following the injection of a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine during the operation '5000 vaccines in one day and on a single site' in Nice as part of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination campaign in France, April 9, 2021.

France widens gap to six weeks for vaccine booster dose