Unlike several European countries, no drastic measures in France for the holidays. The government is banking on transforming the health pass into a vaccination pass. A negative test will no longer be enough to take a train or enter a bar. This bill is already provoking strong reactions, as the first consultations begin this week.
With Anthony Lattier, from the political service of RFI
The Netherlands is reconfiguring itself, Denmark is closing its cultural venues, Ireland prohibits access to bars and restaurants in the evening … But France, it is not going on this ground. Friday, December 17, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced a single strong measure: the establishment of a vaccination pass.
It is first with senators and deputies that the government will discuss, Tuesday, December 21, the transformation of the health pass into a vaccination pass. A bill will be presented and debated in parliament at the start of the year, with entry into force expected at the end of January.
Pressure on the unvaccinated
This political debate will not fail to animate the presidential campaign. From the National Rally (RN) to La France Insoumise (LFI), we are already denouncing a further attack on freedoms. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal assumes on LCI that he wants to put pressure on the unvaccinated: ” We want people vaccinated to be able to live almost normally. This implies that unvaccinated people unfortunately live in near confinement. “
Professor Olivier Bouchaud, head of the infectious and tropical diseases department at the Avicenne hospital in Paris, does not sound the alarm bells about the situation in hospitals in France: ” It is worrying, but there is no danger of saturation in the very short term., he explains to Marine de la Moissonière, of RFI’s France service. Vaccination coverage in France gives us a little leeway that some countries do not have. I think it is this difference that makes it probably sufficient to have put in place these relatively less restrictive provisions than in some countries. “
Social partners twitch about a vaccine pass at work
For now, the government wants the vaccine pass to apply in the same places as the current health pass – bars, restaurants, cultural venues, trains or planes. But a track, so far ruled out, will be discussed this Monday, December 20 at the Ministry of Labor with the unions and employers: the idea of imposing a health pass at work. An idea which provoked this weekend an outcry from the social partners.
” This measure will pose enormous and very many problems, warns Yves Veyrier, general secretary of Force Ouvrière, questioned by Pauline Gleize, from RFI’s economy department. It can be, for example, a source of inequality: if you are on a teleworking position, you can negotiate with our employer the fact of teleworking rather than submitting to a health pass. Anyone who is not on a teleworking station will not have this alternative. If only for its implementation, this device, in my opinion, is not the most effective nor the most operationalL. “
Testing rush before Christmas
While waiting for the vaccination pass, on the eve of the holidays and with the resurgence of the Covid-19 epidemic, the world is flocking to screening centers. In Nantes, the Léo-Lagrange center was opened especially by the town hall to meet this demand. More than 400 PCR and saliva tests were carried out there on Sunday, as could be seen our correspondent in Nantes, Matthieu Bonhoure. Concerned people or contact cases, they all wanted to be sure they had not contracted the coronavirus before finding their loved ones.
” I have a family meal on Tuesday night. I hope it will be negative », Breaths Yannick, in case of contact. Stéphanie, also a contact case, must cancel the planned visit to Sweden to see her sister: “ As there will be a seven day deadline to retest, my plans are canceled for Christmas. We begin to be weary, to lose hope. “
Francky, he came as a precaution. He plans to join his family for Christmas. But in the event of a positive result, he already has an idea in mind. ” If it’s positive, at worst we will meet up with positive friends and we will have a party together He smiles. For Clémence, who came with her husband and their daughter, this Christmas 2021 will be celebrated in a very small group: she tested positive a few days ago. ” We’re definitely going to cancel Christmas. With my immunocompromised mom, we’re not going to take any risks », She explains.
A report in Paris by Tanguy Roman Clavelloux
Covid-19 in France: what to do for Christmas?