Macron makes 'end of summer' vaccine pledge to France

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that all of his countrymen who want a vaccine will be offered one "by the end of the summer".

He told the TF1 channel that 80 percent of care-home residents—some 500,000 people—would be vaccinated by early March.

Macron defended France's record in the face of criticism for its slow rollout, especially compared with neighbour Britain which began its inoculation programme weeks earlier than EU countries and has set a much faster rate.

He said France's rollout "may seem too slow" when compared with countries that had "made other bets".

"But I defend the strategy we have adopted with Germany, with the European Union, which is precisely to vaccinate in Europe," he said.