Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across France on Saturday for the fourth weekend in a row against a coronavirus health pass needed to enter a cafe or travel on an inter-city train, two days before the new rules come into force.
Championed by President Emmanuel Macron, the regulations make it obligatory to have either a full course of vaccination against Covid-19, a negative test or recently recovered from the virus to enjoy routine activities.
Macron, who faces re-election next year, hopes to encourage all French to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and thereby defeat the virus and its fast-spreading Delta variant.
But opponents, who have turned out en masse in the past weeks, argue the rules encroach on civil liberties in a country where individual freedom is prized.
From Monday, the health pass will be needed to eat in a restaurant or enjoy a drink in a cafe both indoors and on a terrace. It will be obligatory on inter-city transport including high-speed trains and domestic flights although will not be needed on metro systems and suburban transport.
The pass has already been required since July 21 to visit cultural venues such as cinemas, theatres and museums. Its extension was approved by France’s Constitutional Council on Thursday.
In one of several protests in Paris, hundreds marched from the western suburbs to the centre, chanting “Freedom!” and “Macron, we don’t want your pass!”.
Wearing a mask, Alexandre Fourez, 34, said he was protesting for the first time and that he had himself recovered from Covid.
“The problem with the health pass is that our hand is being forced,” said the marketing employee, adding he “really has difficulty believing its use will be temporary”.
At least 37,000 people protested in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region on the Mediterranean coast in cities including Toulon, Nice and Marseille, officials said. Slogans included “the health pass means the death of freedoms”.
– ‘Get vaccinated’ -The interior ministry said over 200,000 people protested last weekend and more than 160,000 the weekend before. Police said they did expect the numbers to decrease this weekend.
Although many of the protesters are among those refusing to be vaccinated, some have taken the jabs but object to the principle of the health pass.
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said that the pass, which under current rules will be required until November 15, was needed to avoid further restrictions as the country fights a fourth wave of the Covid-19 epidemic.
Macron, who is still at his official holiday residence in the south of France, has in recent days repeatedly taken to the social media platform Tik Tok, popular among young people, to get his message across.
“Get vaccinated. Get vaccinated. Get vaccinated,” Macron said in the latest video Friday.
“It’s a question of being a good citizen… our freedom is worth nothing if we infect our friends, neighbours or grandparents. To be free is to be responsible.”
The Le Monde daily said Macron’s decision to show no patience with the protesters carried risks, even for a leader who appears to thrive on confrontation as during the 2018-2019 “yellow vest” protests.
“It is a perilous strategy. Playing with the street is to play with fire,” it said.
The vaccine rollout has gathered steam in France since the health pass plan was announced and the government wants 50 million people to have received at least one jab by the end of August. Almost 55 percent of the population is now double jabbed.
With around 25,000 new infections recorded Friday, cases remain high but stable.
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