PARIS (dpa-AFX) – In the fight against the fifth corona wave, the French parliament has finally approved drastic access restrictions for the unvaccinated. In the National Assembly on Sunday evening, 215 MPs voted in favor and 58 voted against. Seven MPs abstained. The law stipulates that unvaccinated people over the age of 16 should no longer have access to restaurants, cultural institutions and long-distance transport.
In view of the enormously high number of infections, the French government wants to set further incentives for corona vaccination. The regulation is intended to convert the currently valid health pass, which provides proof of vaccination, recovery or a current negative corona test, into a vaccination pass. A negative test will soon no longer be enough to gain access to numerous places.
The regulation was originally supposed to take effect on January 15th. The project was delayed due to heated debates in the National Assembly and between the two chambers of Parliament. It is still unclear when exactly the change will come into force. Individual MPs had announced that they wanted to appeal to the Constitutional Council about the text.
In the past few weeks, the number of infections in France has risen rapidly. Most recently, the number of infections registered within a week was around 2,829 per 100,000 inhabitants nationwide.
Around 54,000 people took to the streets in various French cities on Saturday to protest against the planned restrictions and the government’s corona policy. A photo of right-wing demonstrators, who stretched their arms diagonally upwards, caused a sensation – from the perspective of some observers to the Hitler salute. Interior Minister Grald Darmanin wrote that the judiciary had been informed at his request./rbo/DP/he