France faces a key week to try to avoid a fifth wave of the pandemic, given the rapid increase in infections, while the Government wants to increase the rate of vaccination with the approval of measures very restrictive for non immunized.
“I am in favor of the French line right now. I no longer have any intention of sacrificing my life, my time, my freedom and the adolescence of my daughters, as well as their right to study properly, for those who refuse to be vaccinated. This time you are staying at home, not us. ”Said the president. Emmanuel Macron during a televised intervention on Monday, July 12, 2021.
Macron further announced that the health personnel and those who work with fragile people, as the employees of nursing homesThey will have the obligation to be vaccinated before September 15, and from then on there will be penalties for those who do not.
The Nation owes a response to those who have been most affected by the crisis. To our youth, who sacrificed so much when they risked little for themselves. To our elders, who feared for their lives more than others. pic.twitter.com/ThI91q1gzK
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 12, 2021
The rate of new cases “is stronger than in previous waves” due to the high level of contagiousness of the delta variant, the Minister of Health warned this Sunday, July 18, 2021, Olivier Véran, in a statement to Le Journal du Dimanche.
“If we were all vaccinated, the virus would have no one to infect. But we haven’t gotten there ”, he adds.
Much tougher is the Government spokesman, Gabriel Attal, who threatens from the pages of Le Parisien: “It is general vaccination or the viral tsunami.”
In the last two days, France has exceeded 10,000 daily cases, the rate of incidence has risen 50% in one week, and in the Ministry of Health It is feared that at this rate it will reach 60,000 to 120,000 contagions every day during the summer.
For now France demands from this Sunday 18 negative tests less than a day to unvaccinated travelers from Spain, Portugal, UK, Netherlands, Greece Y Cyprus. And four countries with a serious health situation (Cuba, Tunisia, Indonesia and Mozambique) are on the red list of special measures.
Drastic and disputed measures
President Emmanuel Macron announced last Monday, July 12, drastic measures to cut infections without closing the economy, which go through maximizing the vaccination, which will be mandatory for health workers and all those who work with fragile people.
In addition, the health passport (vaccination certificate or negative test) to access bares, restaurants, long distance transport Y malls Y doctors.
The bill will get the go-ahead tomorrow, Monday, at a Minister council which has advanced its celebration to be able to bring the text to the National Assembly on Wednesday.
There, the loose majority of the party of Macron (La República en Marcha, LREM), predicts a favorable vote without problems, which does not rule out harsh criticism among the opposites.
All the groups parliamentarians They have been favorable to the measures except for the two located at both ends: France Insoumise on the left and National Group on the right.
Some 114,000 people demonstrated throughout France on Saturday, July 17 (18,000 in Paris) to protest against these measures in the name of “freedom” and against what they consider to be a “health dictatorship.”
For the Minister of Health, protesters and the opposites to get vaccinated they are “an ultra-minority.” The government spokesman considers them “a marginal group” and warned of the hypothesis of “closing the establishments to all French people” because of “a small minority that does not want to be vaccinated.”
Since Macron announced the measures, more than four million appointments have been made to receive vaccines.
Recovery in jeopardy?
On Sunday, July 18, 2021, the Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, joined the campaign in support of the government measures with the argument of defending the economic relaunch: “I do not want that recovery to be weakened by the lack of responsibility of a few” who do not get vaccinated.
Le Maire stressed that, with the appearance of the new variants, a vaccination rate “of the order of 90%” is necessary to achieve the herd immunity. According to the latest data, just over 44% have the complete pattern.
Despite the protests, the measures announced by Macron have majority support, according to an institute survey Ipsos for the newspaper Le Parisien, which points out that 69% support the mandatory vaccination of health workers.
In addition, 62% support that people do not vaccinated see restricted access to public places.
However, the possibility of discriminating against those who refuse to be vaccinated threatens to generate violent events. The president of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand, has filed a lawsuit over the death threats received by some deputies if they vote in favor of the bill and for some attacks on local parliamentary offices.
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, has asked the departmental prefects to reinforce the security of parliamentarians and regional or local representatives in the face of the multiplication of these incidents.
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