Overview

• National drive begins on October 14 with invitations sent to priority groups including older adults, pregnant people, those with chronic conditions, and most healthcare workers.
• Flu and Covid shots can be administered the same day by doctors, pharmacists, nurses or midwives, with Covid vaccination fully reimbursed for everyone.
• Health leaders maintained the start date after monitoring showed only early Covid signals and no flu epidemic in metropolitan France.
• Officials cite more than 17,000 flu deaths and about 30,000 hospitalizations in 2024–2025 as the impetus to boost vaccine uptake and protection.
• Surveillance has detected the XFG Omicron descendant, and early assessments indicate current Covid vaccines remain effective without evidence of increased severity.