President French, Emmanuel Macron, on Tuesday unambiguously expressed his desire to “annoy (…) to the end” unvaccinated people, while deputies debate a health passport law that would significantly restrict their freedoms.“To the unvaccinated, I really want to annoy them. And that we will continue to do, until the end. Is this the strategy”declared the head of state in an interview with the local newspaper Le Parisien.
These statements once once more ignited the debates in the National Assembly, which has been discussing the creation of a vaccination passport since Monday amid an unprecedented peak of infections in the country, with more than 270,000 cases in 24 hours.
The controversy generated was such that the session ended up being suspended shortly following midnight on Tuesday, the same thing that had happened the day before, delays that put the French government’s calendar at risk.
“A president cannot make the kind of statements he has made,” said Christian Jaboc, chairman of the conservative parliamentary group Los Republicanos. “I cannot endorse a text that seeks to annoy the French,” he added.
If this passport becomes law, unvaccinated French over 12 years old will not be able to go to restaurants, museums, gyms, cinemas or use certain transport even if they present a negative diagnostic test.
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Until now, it was enough to present a recent negative diagnostic test, which will continue to be valid when accessing health services.
During the parliamentary debate, the groups adopted almost unanimously not to apply the health pass to minors between 12 and 15 years old in school outings and in all extracurricular activities.
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The government’s goal is for this law to put more pressure on the nearly five million French people over 12 years of age who are not yet vaccinated, out of a total population of 67 million.
“Almost all of the people, more than 90%, have joined” to vaccination and “it is a small minority that is refractory,” Macron said. “How do we reduce this minority? We reduce it, sorry to say so, annoying it even more ”, he added.
The debates began on Monday, in an atmosphere of tension also fueled by the proximity of the presidential elections in April, to which Macron has the desire to run, as he said in the interview with Le Parisien.
The government’s intention was for the law to be approved by January 15. But both on Monday and Tuesday, the session was suspended at midnight due to the opposition’s refusal to continue debating.
When the session was adjourned on Tuesday, there were still around 450 amendments to be debated.
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