France says mutated Covid strain may already be in the country

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

France’s health minister has said it is "entirely possible" the mutated Covid-19 strain identified in parts of England is already spreading in France.  

"It is entirely possible that the virus is circulating in France," Olivier Véran told Europe 1 radio, adding that the strain had not yet been identified in the country.

Fears over the mutant strain have led France and many other countries to ban passengers arriving on flights, trains and ferries from the UK. 

Mr Véran, who is a neurologist as well as serving in Emmanuel Macron’s cabinet, also said that the current vaccines were likely to work against the new strain of the virus.

"In theory, there is no reason to think that the vaccine should not be effective," he said.

The new UK variant of the virus appears to be 70 per cent more transmissible, forcing new lockdown measures in Britain and travel restrictions from its European neighbours.

Dr Susan Hopkins, from Public Health England, told Sky News that “similar strains have been detected in Denmark and Australia, and there are other variants that look very similar to this that have been detected in South Africa, in the Netherlands and other countries”.

France hopes to begin its vaccination programme from Sunday, starting with the most vulnerable members of the population, such as the elderly.

Europe's medicines regulator will on Monday assess the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, with a green light to put Europe on course to start inoculations within a week.

Last week the French president tested positive for coronavirus. The 42-year-old president would "continue to work and take care of his activities at a distance," a statement released at the time said. 

His wife, Brigitte, 67, tested negative on Thursday. She had no symptoms and would be self-isolating as a precaution, her office said.