|
 Macron told Le Parisien newspaper earlier this week that he wanted
to make the lives of those refusing the COVID-19 vaccine so
complicated by squeezing them out of public places that they would
end up getting jabbed.
Macron's coarse language barely three months before a presidential
election was widely seen as a politically calculated, tapping into a
intensifying public frustration against the unvaccinated.
More than 90% of over-12s have received at least two doses,
government data shows. Health Minister Olivier Veran said a record
number of people since Oct. 1 received a first shot on Wednesday
after Macron's comments were published.
Lawmakers in the lower house passed draft legislation including the
vaccine pass shortly after 5 a.m. after an all-night session by a
margin of 214 to 93. Many of those who voted against the bill were
from the far-right or left-wingers.
The legislation will go to the Senate before a final vote in the
National Assembly.
People in France have for several months had to show either proof of
vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to enter venues such as
cinemas and cafes and use trains. But with Delta and Omicron variant
infections surging, the government decided to drop the test option
in the new bill.
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 The vaccine pass rules will
apply to over-16s and not over-12 as the
government had initially sought.
European countries have been grappling with
whether to coerce citizens into getting
vaccinated through mandates. Italy on Wednesday
made COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for people
from the age of 50, with teachers and public
health workers already obliged to get the shot.
Prime Minister Jean Castex said countries that
had moved towards compulsory vaccinations such
as Italy and Austria had lower vaccination rates
than France.
Castex also said France was ready to move
towards a fourth COVID shot when the time was
right.
On Wednesday, France registered a record of more
than 332,000 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24
hours, and a further 246 COVID deaths in
hospitals, as the country.
(Reporting by Jean Terzian, Sudip Kar-Gupta and
Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Richard Lough;
Editing by Barbara Lewis)
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