French health minister warns of fourth COVID wave

PARIS (Reuters) – Health Minister Olivier Veran on Sunday urged as many French people as possible to get a COVID-19 vaccine, warning that France could be heading for a fourth wave of the epidemic by the end of the month due to the highly transmissible Delta variant.

“For five days, (the infection rate) hasn’t come down – it’s rising again. Because of the Delta variant, which is very contagious. The British example shows that a fourth wave is possible from the end of July,” Veran said on Twitter.

“We must move even faster (on vaccination). Our country is in a race against time.”

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Kevin Liffey)