While “we are still breaking records in terms of incidence rate”, the government is stepping on the accelerator. The bill establishing the vaccine pass will arrive before Parliament on December 29 for “a final adoption of the vaccine pass from the first half of January”. An important point of the text was decided after consultations led by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Labor: the extension of the health pass to all companies. While the social partners have expressed their disapproval, the government gives up including this enlargement in the bill.
“There is no consensus that has emerged around this measure, particularly for reasons of feasibility […] Discussions could potentially continue among parliamentary groups to see if other measures are possible, ”said government spokesman Gabriel Attal.
After a meeting with the Prime Minister – who has consulted the presidents of the parliamentary groups – the leader of the Socialist group in the Senate, Patrick Kanner, confirms that the vaccination pass will replace the health pass “in the current area”. In other words, to access the places subject to the presentation of the pass, it will no longer suffice to have a negative test: it will be necessary to be vaccinated and to have carried out its booster dose.
The extension of the health pass to businesses could be subject to amendment
The extension of the health pass to businesses would have raised a number of questions in terms of public freedoms, as Philippe Bas (LR) pointed out. “Outside the health professions or in contact with the public, the prohibition of access to unvaccinated employees raises sensitive questions: control of medical information by the employer, business continuity, employee compensation, dismissal”, raised Senator LR, Monday.
If this enlargement is abandoned in the drafting of the bill, it can always be introduced by way of amendments when the text is examined in Parliament. “I remain cautious,” reacts the president of the environmental group, Guillaume Gontard, who is also waiting to see the text.
Also read. Vaccination pass: “This opens a lot of questions in terms of public freedoms”, raises Hervé Marseille
This bill, the examination of which has been advanced, is justified by a critical health situation. “The situation in the hospital is tense with nearly 16,000 people hospitalized, more than 3,000 in intensive care,” said the government spokesperson on Tuesday. While the wave of the Delta variant has not yet started to ebb, the meteoric arrival of the Omicron variant is worrying. This new variant would already concern “more than one contamination in three” in Paris in view of the screenings carried out.
“We cannot wait until the end of the holidays to take action”
“The figures are catastrophic, the incidence rate is rising everywhere and hospital services are overcrowded”, also agrees Senator PS, Patrick Kanner. The president of the centrist Union group, Hervé Marseille, does not criticize the government’s acceleration on the bill establishing the vaccine pass. “We cannot blame them for not taking precautions and blame them for measures. We cannot wait until the end of the holidays to take measures, ”Judge Hervé Marseille.
However, many questions remain unanswered, especially on the school, points out the centrist senator. This morning, the spokesperson explained that the postponement of the start of the school year could only be done as a “last resort”. The issue was raised at this meeting.
Consensus on immunization of children aged 5-11
“There is a consensus on the fact that vaccination of 5-11 year olds should not be compulsory”, indicates the president of the environmental group, Guillaume Gontard. Senator Isère adds that the issue of CO₂ sensors in schools has been raised. The Senate calls for the generalization of these sensors indoors, especially at school (read here).
The bill will be presented to the Council of Ministers from Monday, December 27, “which will allow Parliament to be in a position to examine this text from next week, between Christmas and New Year’s Day”. The bill will thus be examined on January 5 and 6 in the Senate. The joint committee bringing together deputies and senators will meet on the 7th to agree or not on an agreement on the bill.
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