Both Houses of the French Parliament have approved the government’s new corona measures. The Senate forced two relaxations. One is that health workers can’t be fired if they don’t take a vaccine.
The second concession the right-wing senate forced is that people do not have to show a health card to visit shopping centers. Attempts by the Senate not to require vaccination certificates for terraces were unsuccessful. The measures will also apply to minors. There was also opposition in the Senate.
The law will come into effect in early August. However, the Constitutional Council will have eight days to assess whether the measures are in line with the constitution.
In order to put a stop to the rising infection rates, French people and tourists will soon have to show a health card to be allowed to go to cafes, restaurants and events. The French House of Representatives had previously approved the plans, but in the night from Saturday to Sunday the Senate had amended the law on several points. As a result, both Houses had to agree on the adjustments and at the end of the evening they reached an agreement.
Infection rates are rising
There was a lot of resistance against the vaccination obligation for healthcare workers, says correspondent Frank Renout. Employees who refuse may be subject to sanctions or withholding of salary, but they will not be fired. Those sanctions can mean, for example, that someone is suspended, or is not allowed to come to work for a while, or that he or she is offered other work, says Renout.
In France, the vast majority of healthcare staff has been vaccinated, only in nursing homes the vaccination coverage among staff lags somewhat behind. Healthcare employees have until mid-September to be vaccinated.
The measures come at a time when the infection rates in France are rising. “It is increasing enormously,” says Renout. “The daily number of new infections has risen by 200 percent in a week and the R-value, which indicates how many people an infected person infects, has risen to 1.8. So all pointers are in the wrong direction.”
‘More covid where tourists come’
The numbers are rising especially in well-known tourist areas, Renout says. “Look at the map and it is mainly red and black along the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic coast and in and around Paris. Exactly the areas where many tourists, and therefore many Dutch people, go on holiday.”
Last weekend there were still in Paris and other cities protests against the new law. Renout thinks that the political compromise on the measures can go both ways. “Some will think, protesting no longer makes sense. But others may just protest more fiercely. Perhaps then you will only be left with the radical demonstrators, with all the consequences that entails.”
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