French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called on the country to step up its vigilance, following the emergence of a new strain of the coronavirus in the UK.

Macron made the remarks while chairing a government ministerial meeting via an audiovisual conference. The president is continuing to work remotely and self-isolating after testing positive for COVID-19 last week.

According to the country's Health Minister Olivier Veran, France will start its COVID-19 vaccination program next Sunday, wrote Veran on his Twitter on Monday.

The French vaccination program will begin with the most vulnerable members of the population, such as the elderly, Veran added.